


You've got Mail

by WhenTheCanonShootsOnlyBlanks



Category: Jane the Virgin (TV)
Genre: F/F, Pining, fake dating au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-04
Updated: 2016-10-16
Packaged: 2018-05-18 05:20:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 98,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5899876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhenTheCanonShootsOnlyBlanks/pseuds/WhenTheCanonShootsOnlyBlanks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Rose's obnoxious colleague won't stop hitting on her, Luisa pretends to be her girlfriend. Not knowing Rose has had a massive crush on her since the day she moved into the building and saw Luisa struggle to get her own mail. </p><p>Now Rose has to convince her co-workers they are really dating while keeping her actual feelings for Luisa in check.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is inspired entirely by the fact that I, a 5'6" individual, am not tall enough to retrieve my own mail form my apartment's mailbox. I thought it would be a nice meet cute for these two idiots because HEIGHT DIFFERENCE!
> 
> Enjoy!

Rose whistled as she walked through the door of her new apartment building. It had been a good day. After the usual first workday jitters had passed, she had fit right in. She enjoyed the work she was doing and she was pretty good at it, all her new co-workers had been surprised she had taken to it so well. They probably expected her to be inexperienced as this was her first real job out of law school, but Rose had been working as a paralegal all her summers and most of her weekends, so she knew what she was doing.

On top of her successful first day at work, the weather had been nice and sunny and not too hot. It was pretty much perfect. But it seemed not everyone was having a great day.

‘He’s doing this on purpose,' a brunette woman huffed as she stood on the very tips of her toes, trying to reach something at the back of her mailbox.

In the few days that Rose had lived in the building, she had never seen her before, she would have remembered. The woman was beautiful. Her long brown hair was kept out of her face by two small braids running down the side of her head. The dress she was wearing was light blue and offset her tanned skin beautifully. Afraid she was going to get caught staring, Rose dragged her eyes up to a more appropriate place and cleared her throat.

‘Sorry, can I help you with that?’ she said, pointing at the mailbox.

The brunette lowered down from her toes and turned around, just looking at Rose for a second before answering.

‘You’re new,' she said, it would have sounded almost accusatory if not for the warm smile she was also giving her. ‘Oh! You must belong to that moving truck from a few days ago. Hi, I’m Luisa. Alver,' she said, extending her hand.

‘Rose. Evans,' Rose said, subconsciously mimicking the brunette as she shook her hand, a tingle running up her spine as they touched. Luisa’s skin was warm and soft and they probably held hands longer than was entirely necessary. As Rose withdrew her hand, she smiled at Luisa. ‘I just moved into apartment 3a. Someone giving you trouble?’ she asked as she eyed the mailbox, the reason this conversation had started in the first place.

‘Yes, actually. Ever since I turned the mailman down for a date last month, he has been throwing my mail into the slot with so much force it lands all the way at the back and I can’t reach it,' Luisa sighed.

‘Can I?’ Rose asked as she took a step forwards, she guessed she was quite a bit taller than the petite brunette, and that was without the heels.

‘Yes, please,' Luisa smiled, taking a step back so Rose could get her mail.

Luisa’s mailbox, 5b, was all the way at the top. It was incredibly impractical for someone of her height. But it did mean she had the top apartment, which must have an incredible view of the city.

She took out the couple of envelopes and locked the mailbox. She didn’t really want Luisa to have to jump to retrieve her key.

‘Here you go,’ she smiled as she handed Luisa her stuff back, their hands touched briefly and the tingle on the back of her spine was still there.

‘Thank you. Is it sad that I am not tall enough to get my own mail?’ Luisa said, her deep brown eyes sparkling with amusement.

‘You’re not really that short, although you could benefit from a step-stool down here,' Rose said back, looking at Luisa as they climbed the stairs. Trying to match Luisa’s pace so she wouldn’t accidentally stare at her.

‘That might actually be a good idea,' Luisa grinned. ‘I can’t really keep relying on tall strangers to help me out.’

‘Have you thought about switching mailboxes?’ Rose asked as she halted in the middle of the stairs, they were almost at her floor and she didn’t want this conversation to end yet.

‘I tried, but no one wants to switch, and with the numbers out of order it will just confuse the mailman, and he already hates me. So I will probably never get my own mail.’

‘Well, the mailboxes are very impractically stacked,' Rose said as she followed Luisa up the stairs, her plan to make their conversation last a little longer not having worked to its fullest extent.

‘This is me,' Rose said as they reached the third floor landing.

‘Right, thank you for getting my mail and welcome to the building! I guess I’ll see you around,' Luisa said before she continued up the stairs.

As she closed the door behind her, Rose realized that she had forgotten to get her own mail. But it didn’t matter, she could add meeting Luisa to the list of things that made her day great.

* * *

Rose checked her watch as she unlocked the building’s front door, it was about the same time as she had gotten home yesterday. And she didn’t know why, but she hoped Luisa would be in the lobby as well. Today had been decidedly worse than yesterday, and seeing Luisa would probably make it a little more bearable. She had had one five minute conversation with Luisa, but she couldn’t stop thinking about it. While unpacking boxes yesterday evening, she realized she knew absolutely nothing about her. And she found she really wanted to.

So here she was, hoping to have another run-in with Luisa.

She briefly checked her reflection in the window before stepping inside. The hallway was empty and Rose found she was actually disappointed that the very slim chance that Luisa would be there hadn’t panned out.

She sighed and took out her mailbox key, she didn’t think she would have any mail yet, but she hadn’t checked yesterday either, thanks to Luisa.

As expected, she didn’t have any mail, and just as she was about to start climbing the stairs, she heard the front door unlock.

She turned around and she couldn’t keep the smile off her face; it was Luisa.

‘Hey!’ she greeted, moving to help Luisa with the door.  The brunette was carrying a bunch of files and the door refused to open all the way.

‘You have great timing, you know?’ Luisa smiled gratefully.

‘Just luck,’ Rose shrugged, feeling pretty damn lucky herself. ‘Can I help you with that?’ She motioned to the stack of files that was swaying precariously in Luisa’s arms.

‘No, I got them. But if you want to help, could you please get my mail for me?’  Luisa asked, cradling the files in one hand as held out her keys to Rose. ‘It’s the small one,' she clarified as Rose took the keys and opened her mailbox for her.

There was another stack of envelopes all the way at the back, and she could see why Luisa would have trouble reaching them.

‘Here you go,’ she said as locked the mailbox.

‘Thank you, just put them on top of the stack,' Luisa said as she lifted them a little higher. So Rose did.

As they walked up the stairs together, Rose was itching to ask Luisa questions, but she worried it might be weird, they were just neighbors walking up the stairs together, not really a great time to play twenty questions.

Just as Rose found the nerve to ask a question, Luisa asked her one at the same time.

‘So…’

‘Are…’

And they both laughed. ‘You first,’ Rose said, looking down at her feet as they continued to climb the stairs.

‘Are you getting settled in alright?’ Luisa asked, with that bright smile that made Rose’s heart beat a little faster, and it wasn’t from the physical exertion of climbing the stairs.

‘Yeah, I like it here, great building and neighborhood, too bad the elevator doesn’t work.’

‘Good, I’m glad you like it here. And the elevator has never worked, and I’ve lived here for five years. By now, I am pretty sure there isn’t an actual elevator and they just painted that wall to look like there is one.’

Rose laughed. ‘Maybe, that would explain why the super won’t take my calls about it.’

‘Oh, the super is part of the conspiracy too,’ Luisa said, one corner of her mouth curled up into a smile. ‘What were you going to say before I so rudely interrupted you?’

‘I was going to ask you what the files were for, there is quite a lot of them.’

‘Oh, these are just for work. I dropped them today and I need to sort them out. All the patient information got screwed up.’

‘So you’re a doctor?’ Rose asked, before she could think better of it. There were plenty of other professions with patients, and she didn’t want to insult Luisa in any way.

‘Yes, I’m an OB/GYN. And what do you do when you are not getting my mail for me?’ Luisa joked.

‘I’m a lawyer, criminal defense. That’s why I moved to the city actually, I got offered a great job here.’

‘Rose,' Luisa started as Rose was about to climb the next flight of stairs. ‘This is your floor.’

Rose looked around and noticed that she had indeed passed her front door already. ‘Right,’ Rose said, feeling a blush creep up her neck. ‘I could have sworn there were more stairs last time I climbed them,' she said sheepishly.

‘Wait until you try to get up these stairs in a hurry, there suddenly appear to be much more of them. But I’ll see you around,’ Luisa waved as she continued up the stairs alone.

Rose bit her lip as she turned the key in her front door. That had been more awkward then she would have liked. But still, the few minutes of polite small talk with Luisa while they walked up the stairs together had been better than the terrible hour she spent with her colleagues at lunch that day. One of her co-workers, Leon, had spent the entire lunch making inappropriate jokes and incessantly hitting on her. She tried to tell him she was not interested and would never be. But he hadn’t taken the hint, guys never seemed to get the hint. She had briefly debated just telling him she was gay, hopefully he would back off then. But if she told her colleagues on the second day of work, it would become a ‘thing’. They would only see her as the lesbian and not as a lawyer, which was what she was trying to prevent. So best to deal with Leon’s flirting for a while before slowly breaking the news to her colleagues.

She sighed and leant back against the front door. While trying to ignore Leon and his advances, she had to sort her feelings for Luisa out as well. She was obviously attracted to the brunette, who wouldn’t be, but she was fairly certain Luisa wouldn’t be interested in that. Because the only women she was interested in were either permanently unavailable or straight. And as she was pretty sure Luisa lived alone, she would most likely be straight.

* * *

The rest of the week passed much the same; Leon would hit on her, she would turn him down, she would go home and run into Luisa. Sometimes Rose would be earlier and she would find reasons to linger in the hallway to wait for Luisa. Sometimes she would find Luisa already there, checking her phone, standing on the tips of her toes to get her mail which Rose would always get for her. But somehow they always ran into each other, and it always made Rose’s day that much better.

The talks they had during their short climb up the stairs hadn’t yet offered any insight in Luisa sexuality or general interest in relationships, and they had only made Rose like Luisa more and more. She was smart and funny and always managed to make Rose smile no matter how bad her day had been. That Friday she had wanted to invite Luisa in for a cup of coffee or basically anything to spend more time with her. But then she remembered her apartment was filled with unpacked boxes and mountains of paperwork and that Luisa would probably not want to anyway.

* * *

Rose woke up Saturday morning with the realization that she would probably not see Luisa today, and it really bothered her. Luisa obviously didn’t have to work on Saturdays, so there would be no reason for her to be in the hallway at five thirty tonight.

She let out a loud sigh before swinging her legs over the side of the bed. It was still early and not too hot, so maybe a run would clear her head of thoughts about a certain upstairs neighbor.

* * *

When she came through the front door an hour or so later. Guess who was also there, wearing a yellow sundress and her dark curls tumbling effortlessly around her shoulders?

‘Hi Rose,' Luisa smiled. ‘Have a nice run?’

‘Yeah,' Rose said, still panting, sweat dripping down her forehead and her face was probably red with exertion, not a great look when meeting your crush.

Luisa ran her eyes up her body and Rose expected her to recoil in disgust, but she just smiled.

‘I was thinking,’ Luisa said, ‘would you like to get lunch today? As a thank you for me using you as my personal step-stool.’

Rose was suddenly grateful that her face was already red, because there was no way she could hide her blush that the mental image of Luisa using her as a step-stool had brought up otherwise.

‘You don’t have to. It is nothing really,' Rose said, tucking a strand of hair that had escaped from her ponytail behind her ear. Why was she making excuses? She would love to spend some more time with Luisa.

‘Come on, it will be fun. Have you been anywhere that isn’t work or the supermarket since you moved here?’

‘No, not really,' Rose admitted.

‘Then let me take you to my favorite restaurant. Unless you have plans of course,’ Luisa said, and her smile did strange things to Rose’s willpower to say no, not that there had been much of that to begin with. Going to lunch with Luisa seemed like a bad idea. She would probably embarrass or out herself and that would probably mean the end of this budding friendship they had formed. In her experience, straight women didn’t generally take well to learning she had a crush on them. And she just really liked Luisa and wasn’t looking forward to having to awkwardly shuffle around her for the rest of her stay in the building.

‘No, no plans.’

‘Great! So you’re coming then?’ Luisa said and her smile was so cute and hopeful Rose really couldn’t say no.

‘Yeah, I’ll just take a shower first,' Rose said.

‘That sounds like a great plan,' Luisa smiled and Rose could feel her cheeks getting hotter and looked down.

‘So I’ll see you down here in about an hour?’ Luisa said, completely unaware of Rose’s inner turmoil.

‘Yes, sure. An hour is fine,' Rose said. ‘See you then,' she said as she practically sprinted past Luisa and up the stairs.

* * *

An hour later, her hair still damp from the shower, Rose walked down the stairs. Having convinced herself she could do a friendly lunch between two neighbors who were just getting to know each other. But to make up for the fact that Luisa had seen her all gross and sweaty in her sports bra and shorts, she had dressed up the tiniest bit. She was wearing a red dress, that was probably too dressy for a casual lunch, but she liked how it looked on her.

‘Wow. You look beautiful,' Luisa said as she pushed herself off the wall she had been leaning against. Rose tried to not read into that comment; women always told each other they looked good. It meant nothing. It certainly didn’t mean what she wanted it to mean.

‘Thank you, you too,' Rose smiled back. ‘So where are we going?’

‘A small restaurant around the corner, it has delicious sea food. I hope that is okay?’

‘Yeah, that’s fine. I love sea food,’ Rose said.

The restaurant Luisa took her to was lovely and the seafood _was_ delicious. They had opted for a table on the terrace as the weather was warm but not too humid and there was a nice, cool breeze. Rose hated how beautiful Luisa looked when the wind softly played with her hair. They talked about work, their families, just non-descript things they had briefly touched upon when they walked up the stairs together.

‘So, I knew you are new in the city, but are you seeing anyone?’ Luisa asked casually as she sipped her water.

‘No, no I’m not. I’m not really the dating person. There is this guy at work who keeps hitting on me though,’ Rose could have sworn she saw Luisa’s face cloud at the news, but only for a second, then her smile was firmly back in place. Rose convincing herself she must have imagined it.

‘And?’ Luisa asked, leaning further over the table, giving Rose a tantalizing view of the tops of her breasts in the low-cut yellow dress she was still wearing.

‘I am not really interested in dating anyone from work, it will be too awkward when we break up,' Rose said, dragging her eyes back up to a more appropriate height. ‘And I told him that, but he just won’t stop.’

‘I hate it when that happens,' Luisa smiled sympathetically.

Rose found she really enjoyed her lunch with Luisa, being friends with the woman was enough. She could do that. If she could only stop noticing the way Luisa’s smile lit up her whole face. Luisa didn’t do things halfway, her smiles were wide, her laugh was loud and she was passionate about her job and her family and her home and unapologetic about the things she liked. Rose could probably listen to her talk for hours and never get bored. But eventually they were finished eating and drawing their time together out any longer would be weird. So they walked back home to their building, Luisa laughing the whole time as Rose told her about the stupidest things witnesses or A.D.A’s had said in the courtroom.

‘Rose, stop, you’re killing me,’ Luisa hiccupped, actual tears shining in her eyes. ‘It is impossible he actually said that.’

‘I will get you the court transcript, believe me, he said it.’

‘He asked the M.E. if the guy whose brain he had just removed might have possibly still been alive?’

‘You only have to pass the Bar to become a lawyer. Some idiots manage to do it every year.’

‘Did you win that case?’ Luisa asked as she unlocked the door and wordlessly handed Rose her keys.

‘I did. After that, the jury realized he was grasping at straws,' Rose said as she grabbed Luisa’s mail, locking the mailbox with a smile.

‘How did you possibly keep a straight face?’ Luisa smiled as Rose handed her her keys and mail.

‘I might have laughed, a little.’ Rose smiled back, ignoring the lingering warmth Luisa’s touch had left on her skin.

‘You make court sound so much funnier than it should.’

‘Well, it is usually quite boring, the jury barely pays attention, the judges are grumpy and somehow opposing council will either throw me death glares the whole time or ask me out during recess. My clients are mostly assholes too.’

‘Well, the stories are great,' Luisa said, putting her hand on Rose’s elbow as they reached her floor. ‘I had fun, we should do this again sometime,' Luisa smiled, and Rose hoped her cheeks weren’t as red as her dress.

‘Yeah, it was fun. When I finally get all my stuff unpacked, I might even invite you over for a homemade lunch,' Rose said before her brain could sensor her mouth.

‘You cook?’ Luisa said, her head tilted to the side questioningly, her eyes still sparkling warmly.

‘Yes,' Rose said, running a hand through her hair, not really knowing how to elaborate on that, and she was a lawyer, so that _never_ happened.

‘Well, I look forward to it,' Luisa smiled. ‘See you around, Rose.’ And with that she turned around and walked up the stairs towards her own apartment.

Rose closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. _Just friends_. She could do just friends.

* * *

Three weeks later, she and Luisa still ran into each other every night. Rose got Luisa’s mail for her and was always rewarded with a smile that made her heart beat faster, which was annoying, as she didn’t actually have a shot beyond friendship with the brunette.  

At work Leon was still hitting on her, and the only person she could vent to about it, was Luisa. Who understood her completely but the light in her brown eyes always dimmed a little bit when she talked about Leon. So she tried not to bring it up too much.

On the Saturday that marked her first month in the building, Rose walked through the door carrying a full bag of groceries. Or more she _tried_ to walk through the door but she couldn’t get her key into the lock. She groaned and was already halfway through the motion of putting the bag on the ground when someone said ‘Let me help you with that.’ and took the keys from her hand.

Rose felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as she recognized the voice.

‘Leon, hi,' Rose said, walking through the door he held open for her, hoping despite everything that he wouldn’t follow her inside. But he did.

‘So this is where you live, huh?’ Leon said, tossing her keys in his hand. ‘Nice building.’

‘Yeah, I think so,’ Rose said. ‘Thanks for helping me with the door.’

‘Yeah, no problem. How high up do you live, I could carry your groceries for you,' Leon said, smarmy smile firmly in place. His blond hair was artfully tousled and Rose suspected he spent more time in front of a mirror than she did. He sure acted like it.

‘No, I got it, thanks,' Rose said, holding out her hand for her keys. ‘See you at work Monday.’ she said as he finally handed her the keys. Just as she was about to turn around and walk up the stairs, he grabbed her by the elbow.

‘Rose, let’s just go on one date. You’re beautiful, and you’re new in town. I could show you a good time. Believe me,’ Leon said, Rose wishing she had a way to wipe the sly smile of his face. She wanted to yell at him to leave her alone. But she worked with him, and the boss liked him. So if she wanted to keep her job, she would have to turn him down gently, which she had been doing for a whole month but he wouldn’t let it go.’

‘Leon, look…’ Rose started, not knowing what she could say that hadn’t already been said. They had this conversation almost every day. And every day she came closer to telling him she was a lesbian, but the more he hit on her, the less she thought he would be stopped by that. He would probably be one of those guys who found it a challenge to hit on lesbians.  

And suddenly Luisa was at her side, she hadn’t heard her come down the stairs, but that didn’t surprise her as much as what Luisa did next. The brunette pushed herself up on her toes and kissed her on the cheek, slinging an arm around her middle in a way that was most definitely possessive.

‘Hi babe. What took you so long?’ Luisa said, resting her head on Rose’s shoulder as she stared at Leon, who had thankfully let go of Rose’s arm when Luisa arrived.

He was looking at the two in confusion, and Rose was feeling just as confused as he looked. Luckily Luisa seemed to have planned for that too.

‘And you are?’ Luisa said, her arm still loosely slung around Rose’s middle, her hand resting on her hipbone. Rose could feel the warmth of it through her dress.

‘Leon, I work with Rose,’ Leon said, his eyes narrowed as he looked Luisa up and down. ‘And you are?’

‘Oh, sorry, how rude of me. I’m Luisa, Rose’s girlfriend,' Luisa said with a smile, her arm tightening on Rose’s waist to tell her to play along.

Rose, who had been very confused up till this point, became even more confused when the word ‘girlfriend’ in combination with her name passed Luisa’s lips.

‘So you’re…’ Leon said, pointing at the two of them, his brain only now making the connection.

‘Gay? Yes, we are,' Luisa said, no hint of discomfort in her voice. ‘And if you’ll excuse us, we would like to get on with our day,' she finished, turning Rose around and leading her up the stairs, not letting go of her until they heard the door slam shut.

‘Sorry to ambush you like that. But you looked like you needed some help,’ Luisa said, smiling kindly at a still stunned Rose.

‘Thank you, for that,' Rose said, trying to get her thoughts on what had just happened in order.

‘I hope I didn’t make things more complicated for you, at work I mean. But he’s the asshole who’s been hitting on you non-stop, right?’ I thought I heard you say his name.’

Rose nodded, still feeling the pressure of Luisa’s lips on her cheek.

‘Well, I think he might stop now,' Luisa grinned. ‘After all, you have a kick-ass girlfriend now.’

‘Let’s hope he stops,’ Rose said sheepishly, Luisa referring to herself as her girlfriend was making her stomach do high-speed backflips.

‘Well, enjoy the rest of your Saturday,' Luisa said. ‘And if you ever need my help with that asshole again, you know where to find me.’ she smiled, continuing up the stairs like she had not just turned Rose’s whole world upside down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I have never written a fake dating AU before and have only read a couple of them, I am not yet sure where this is going. So please be patient with me. Also send me lots of comments and ideas so I know what you would like to see! Your opinion are always welcome, seriously, always.


	2. Chapter 2

Rose took a deep breath before walking into the office that morning. She was certain the news about her ‘girlfriend’ had spread by now and she was worried about the possible repercussions of Luisa unknowingly outing her. She didn’t blame Luisa in the slightest, she had just been trying to help and had no idea how true part of her lie was. And as such, she hadn’t known about Rose’s personal experiences with being ‘out’. Rose hated being in the closet, absolutely hated hiding who she was while pretending to be someone she was not. Her miserable teenage life filled with boyfriends she didn’t actually like could testify to that. But after rejection after rejection, she had learned that it was easier to just keep that part of her life to herself.

She didn’t blame Luisa, her sexuality would have come out eventually, fake girlfriend or not. But she still had to take a moment to prepare for the possible rejection of who she was by her coworkers. They couldn’t say anything she hadn’t heard before, but she had found it was easier to expect the worst. It didn’t sting for as long after.

She steeled herself and walked into the lobby. She could do this.

‘Good morning, Rose,’ Erin, their receptionist greeted.

‘Good morning, Erin,’ Rose smiled, maybe news hadn’t travelled that far yet. ‘Do you have any messages for me?’

‘Yes, Hanson has delegated one of his cases to you and the client wants to have a meeting tomorrow at…’ Erin paused as she looked at her computer screen. ‘two.’

‘Okay, thank you. That’s all?’

‘Yup,’ Erin smiled. ‘Have a nice day at work.’

‘You too,’ Rose said.

‘Rose?’ Erin said just as Rose was about to take the stairs towards her office.

‘Yeah?’ she said as she turned back around.

‘Congratulations on the girlfriend,’ Erin smiled kindly.

Rose could feel her cheeks color and turned back around as you muttered a ‘thank you’ to Erin. It didn’t even occur to her to correct the ‘girlfriend’ part. She had been so focused on the possible ignorance and hate her coworkers might throw at her for being gay, she had completely forgotten Luisa wasn’t actually her girlfriend, and that her confirming it in front of Erin would probably come back to bite her in the ass.

So news _had_ apparently travelled that far, maybe there was an email chain she wasn’t a part of, or maybe Leon had just tried to smear her in front of their colleagues. If that was the case, it hadn’t worked on Erin. Rose knew something about reading faces, and Erin had been sincere. She could only hope the others would take it as well as she did.

She was so lost in thought about how to break the news to her colleagues that she and Luisa weren’t actually dating that she walked straight into the person who had been lurking in front of her office.

 ‘What the -? Oh, it’s you,’ Leon said as he straightened his jacket.

‘Leon, what are you doing in front of my office?’ Rose asked, struggling to find it within herself to be polite.

 ‘I have been thinking…’ he started.

‘Sounds dangerous,’ she muttered under her breath but Leon didn’t hear.

‘And that was not your girlfriend. You are way too hot to be a _lesbian_.’ It sounded like a curse coming from him. Like the worst thing he could wish upon a firstborn was that she would grow up to be a lesbian.

Rose could feel her muscles tense up. She was sure he meant it as some sort of twisted compliment, but it just made her feel angry. Even if she and Luisa weren’t actually girlfriends, she _was_ actually a lesbian. And assholes like Leon were what made it so hard for her to feel free to discuss her sexuality.

‘I _am_ a lesbian and Luisa _is_ my girlfriend,’ Rose said, practically sneered. Enough was enough and she did not care that the second part of that statement was a lie. She needed Leon to accept the fact that she would never be interested in him, and keeping Luisa as her girlfriend made her doubly unavailable.

‘No, I think you’re just faking it. I have seen how you look at me,’ Leon grinned.

 _In complete and utter disgust._ Rose thought, repressing the urge to gag as Leon’s gaze was fixed somewhere lower than her eyes. She closed her eyes and counted to three, she could deal with this in a professional manner, but it would feel so much better to just punch him in his smug face. ‘Leon, for the last time. I am gay. Solely attracted to women. You are not a woman, ergo I am not attracted to you. And you have _met_ my girlfriend. To satisfy your ego, you think I am faking a relationship because you think it is impossible for anyone not to be attracted to you. So let me spell it out for you, I am not, was not, and will never be attracted to you. So please leave me alone,’ Rose said, feeling a whole lot better all of the sudden.

Leon’s eyes narrowed and barely restrained anger contorted his face. ‘You bitch. I know you are lying, and I am going to prove it!’ he hissed at her before storming off.

Rose didn’t know why, but she felt like she had just won something. She had finally stood up for herself and Leon had shown himself for what he truly was: a dick. But it only lasted for a second. Having Leon on her bad side couldn’t possibly end well. He had made it very clear he wasn’t going to let this pass, and if he found out she was actually lying about her relationship with Luisa, he would stop at nothing to use that one lie to completely discredit her. Her career might actually in the balance.

She bit her lip and closed her eyes. She just had to make sure he wouldn’t find out, then. She would pretend to date Luisa for another couple of weeks and then break up with her. Fake relationship and her problem over.

She took a deep breath and pushed her anger towards Leon out of her mind, she had people to help after all.

* * *

Rose managed to work in relative peace and quiet for about an hour, then Sarah knocked on her door, bearing the gift of coffee.

‘Hi Rose,’ she greeted with her usual cheer. Sarah was a petite blonde Rose could only describe as _bubbly_. She didn’t look very intimidating but Rose had witnessed her tear the prosecution’s argument to pieces in five seconds flat, smiling the entire time. Rose liked her.

‘Hi Sarah, how was your weekend?’ Rose asked, gratefully accepting the coffee her colleague had so thoughtfully brought her.

‘It was good, Ryan and I painted the kitchen. We went shopping for some new curtains, the usual. How about you? I heard from Leon you are seeing someone, why didn’t you say something?’ Sarah asked, grinning widely at her.

Rose groaned. ‘Does everyone know?’

‘Yeah, Leon told Jerry, who told Kate, who told basically all of us,’ Sarah grinned, patting Rose on the shoulder. ‘So why haven’t you told us yourself?’

‘Because we haven’t been seeing each other very long,’ Rose said, feeling her heartrate spike. Everyone already knew and she couldn’t correct them without Leon finding out. So she had to keep lying, seeing Luisa tonight was going to be awkward. ‘I just moved here and she’s my upstairs neighbor, we just met in the hallway a couple of times,’ Rose said.

‘So what’s her name?’ Sarah asked, and Rose felt like she was back in middle school. But she told Sarah the details of her fake relationship anyway, better to figure out what those were now, than when Leon started his inquisition. And it was not entirely unpleasant to talk to someone about her love life. Even if the relationship part was a lie.

‘Well, good for you!’ Sarah said as Rose finished recounting how their first date went. She was so happy Luisa wasn’t actually here. Perpetrating this lie would be a lot harder with Luisa in the room. ‘But it’s time for me to get back to work,’ Sarah said, gathering Rose’s empty cup to throw in the trash.

‘Wait, let me get you back for the coffee,’ Rose objected.

‘No, it’s fine. It was just a bribe to get you to tell me about your girlfriend,’ Sarah smiled.

‘I suspected as much,’ Rose smiled back, happy Sarah was okay with it. It wouldn’t really have mattered otherwise, but Sarah was the closest thing she had to a friend in Miami and she would hate to lose that.

She felt a little better after talking with Sarah, she had believed her lies about their relationship, so the rest of her colleagues probably would too. As it turned out, it wasn’t really that hard to lie about her relationship with Luisa, she just told them the truth, omitting the fact that her feelings for Luisa weren’t returned.

Her plan hit a snag when their boss walking into the breakroom during lunch and announced that they were all invited to a celebratory dinner that Friday evening.

‘You should bring your _girlfriend,_ ’ Leon had immediately sneered at her, he had been throwing her looks the whole time but she had ignored him and just answered her co-workers questions, which weren’t even all about Luisa.

‘Oh, that’s a great idea!’ Sarah applauded, obviously not picking up on Leon’s tone. ‘I’d love to meet her.’

‘Great, that’s set then?’ Leon asked, grinning smugly at Rose. ‘We’re all bringing a date?’

‘I’m sure she’d love to come,’ Rose smiled, trying to keep her near-panic from showing up on her face. She couldn’t bring Luisa to dinner with her colleagues. They were lawyers for god’s sake! They would interrogate her and figure out that they were faking it! And they would also get suspicious if Luisa didn’t show, but there was no way Luisa was going to come to dinner with her. She wasn’t interested in her after all.

* * *

When she walked into the building that evening, she was still debating whether or not she should even tell Luisa about the dinner she had been invited to, or to just cancel on her behalf.

‘Rose, hey,’ Luisa greeted. ‘How was work?’ she asked, already handing Rose the keys to her mailbox, their hands brushing briefly. ‘How did Leon behave today?’

Rose took a deep breath and turned around to get Luisa’s mail for her. ‘He thinks we’re faking it.’

‘Really, why? I was totally believable Saturday,’ Luisa pouted. ‘Oh well, screw him. Anyone else give you a hard time about it?’ Luisa asked, smiling gratefully as Rose handed her her mail and keys back.

‘No, they were very supportive of our fake relationship. So supportive in fact that you have been invited to dinner Friday evening. But you don’t have to go, of course. I’ll say you have something already.’

‘Will Leon be there?’ Luisa asked, pausing on the middle of the staircase, putting her hand on Rose’s arm to get her to stop.

‘Yes,’ Rose said, narrowing her eyes as she tried to ignore Luisa’s touch and figure out why that would matter.

‘Then I’m in,’ she smiled happily.

‘You want to pretend to be my date in front of my coworkers and boss?’ Rose said, not even having thought of the possibility that Luisa might want to go with her.

‘Yes, let’s show Leon we really are a couple!’ Luisa smiled happily. ‘He’ll have to believe it if I show up Friday. Unless you don’t want me to go, of course. I already complicated your life as it is.’

‘No, it’s fine,’ Rose smiled before she could really think about it, this brought forth a whole different kind of problem: they would have to act like a couple, which meant touching. And Rose didn’t think she could handle Luisa’s affective touches if they meant nothing to her. But instead of recanting her earlier statement, she said the following: ‘I look forward to fake-dating you on Friday.’ And she hoped to god she wasn’t blushing as hard as she thought she was. The thought of going out in public and pretending to be Luisa’s girlfriend was turning the butterflies fluttering in her stomach into a full-blown tornado of them.

‘Give me your phone,’ Luisa said, her eyes shining with amusement. She was enjoying this, and Rose didn’t know why she would possibly so excited about fake-dating her. Maybe she just liked the thrill of misleading a group of lawyers.

‘Why?’ Rose asked, handing her phone over regardless. She would have given Luisa anything, her phone, her keys, her credit card, her hand in marriage. But she was getting off track.

‘Because you should have your girlfriend’s phone number.’ Luisa winked, adding her number to her contacts. ‘And because if we are going to convince Leon we are dating, we should probably know a little more about each other. And I need to know more about our ‘relationship’ before we start contradicting each other Friday, they’re lawyers, our story needs to be airtight. And as I don’t have time to discuss all of this in person with you this week. Texts will have to do.’ Luisa smiled, handing Rose her phone back with a flourish.

‘Right, that does make sense,’ Rose smiled, running a hand through her hair. ‘So I’ll pick you up on Friday?’ she said, awkwardly staring at the ground.

‘I’d like that,’ Luisa smirked, touching Rose’s arm briefly. ‘But I have to go now, text me our story?’

‘I will,’ Rose smiled, her heart beating fast. ‘It is quite impressive actually.’

‘I can’t wait to hear it,’ Luisa said as she gave Rose a small wave before continuing up the stairs to her apartment.

Rose let out a groan as the door fell closed behind her, what had she gotten herself into? She looked at Luisa’s contact in her phone, Luisa had added a little heart at the end of her name and she could actually feel her sanity slipping away. She would never manage to get through that dinner without making her attraction to Luisa known. Which was a good thing where her colleagues were concerned, but decidedly less good when Luisa came into play.

She fell down on her couch, wishing she knew how to get herself out of this mess. But when nothing came to her, she started typing out a message to Luisa. They weren’t actually dating so at least she wouldn’t look desperate by texting her so soon.

* * *

_“Favorite color?”_

Rose smiled, she and Luisa had been texting things like that back and forward now for the whole day. And even if it wasn’t real, she loved learning all these little things about Luisa.

_“Green. What’s yours and what is the first album you bought?”_

_“Blue and it was probably some Destiny’s Child album.”_

_“Me too,”_ Rose answered, smiling as she typed her reply.

‘Your girlfriend?’ a voice from the doorway said.

Rose tensed and put her phone face down on her desk.

‘Yes,’ Rose said, smiling embarrassedly at Sarah who was grinning menacingly at her.

‘Tsk, texting on the job. She’s a bad influence on you.’ Sarah smiled as she walked in. ‘So, spill, what were you smiling about?’

‘Nothing, just stuff,’ Rose said.

‘Stuff, how mysterious,’ Sarah said, approaching Rose with her arms crossed, a secretive smile on her face. ‘Was it a sext?’

‘No, it was not a sext!’ Rose whispered, blushing furiously.

‘You’re blushing. It was definitely a sext,’ Sarah said smugly. ‘Did you tell her what you’re wearing?  Oh, what’s _she_ wearing?’ Sarah smiled, the woman knew no shame.

‘Even if we were sexting, which we were _not,_ ’ Rose said, slipping her phone into her pocket before Sarah could make a grab for it. She didn’t think Sarah would be that bold, but she would rather be careful. She should really password protect her phone. ‘I wouldn’t tell you about it.’

‘But then what are friends for?’ Sarah pouted. And Rose’s heart warmed a bit at the fact that Sarah considered them friends. ‘Please tell me I actually get to meet her. I could use my cross on her to get her to tell me the juicy stuff,’ Sarah winked.

‘Yes, she is coming. But you are not going to treat my girlfriend as a hostile witness,’ Rose said, turning back to her paperwork but Sarah was still hovering around her desk.

‘I wasn’t. I bet she’ll cooperate freely. I was going to treat _you_ as a hostile witness.’

‘Then I plead the fifth,’ Rose joked. ‘Weren’t you admonishing me earlier for not doing my job?’

‘Fine, I know enough,’ Sarah said, shrugging her shoulders as she walked backwards out of her office. ‘Totally sexting,’ she whispered.

‘Out!’ Rose yelled, smiling widely. She liked joking like this. Even if this brought a new question to the front of her mind. In their fake relationship, would they have had sex yet? She didn’t think Luisa would be comfortable with discussing it but if Sarah was going to interrogate them like this Friday evening, it would be nice to have an answer.

She reached for her phone, her hand hovering above it for a moment; she really had to get back to work. And she didn’t really want to ask Luisa anyway. But checking if Luisa had asked her another question couldn’t hurt.

 _“I’ve got to go back to work. Can you meet me for lunch?”_ The text read, and Rose felt her face grow warm again. Meeting your girlfriend for lunch was normal, it would help establish the lie. But why would Luisa possibly want to meet her for lunch?

More out of curiosity than anything else she replied in the affirmative. Asking for a time and place.

After Luisa had texted her the details, she went back to work. Luisa’s offer for lunch crossing her mind ever so often, not making it the most effective morning at work she’d ever had.

* * *

‘Hey!’ Luisa greeted as she stood up from her table.

‘He-‘ Rose started, the unexpected hug Luisa gave her cutting her off.

‘What was that for?’ Rose said as she recovered from the physical contact. This was the first hug Luisa had ever given her, and with the exception of last Saturday the most contact she’d had with the brunette.

‘We’re a couple, we have to sell it,’ Luisa grinned, her eyes shining with amusement.

‘We’re just pretending to be a couple for my colleagues, there is no need to do it here,’ Rose said, her mind still reeling. Although she hadn’t been expecting it, it had taken her body approximately 0.1 of a second to respond and return the hug. And it had felt so good she wished she could do it again.

‘What if they followed you?’ Luisa smirked, it seemed she enjoyed catching Rose unawares.

‘I highly doubt even Leon is that dedicated,’ Rose smiled. ‘So why are we having lunch.’

‘Because I had to tell you something before we go to dinner Friday and I’d rather do it in person.’

‘Okay,’ Rose said, her mind spinning with what that could possibly mean.

‘I –‘ Luisa started, and it was the first time Rose had seen her struggle with saying anything. And she was itching to reach out, to take her hand or do something to make her feel more comfortable, but she doubt that would be appreciated.

‘I am an alcoholic. A recovering one,’ Luisa said, meeting Rose’s eyes.

‘Okay,’ Rose said, smiling to let Luisa know that… What? She was okay with that? She found it brave she’d told her? That she’d support her? That it didn’t matter? What could she possibly say to such an important piece of information? Something Luisa obviously was uncomfortable about?

‘Okay?’ Luisa questioned, taking a sip of the glass of water the waitress had just put on the table.

‘Yes. Okay. Thank you for telling me. It would be strange if I found out at the dinner. We’re supposed to have been dating quite a while now,’ Rose smiled, hoping that Luisa would pick up on the words she couldn't quite form into patterns in her mind.

‘Yes, tell me about that, actually,’ Luisa said, changing the topic. ‘I know about the first date we went on, as we actually went out together. But happened? Did we kiss? Who asked who out for a second date? I need details if I am going to convince that prick,’ Luisa said, her earlier enthusiasm returning.

‘You’ll have to convince Sarah, too,’ Rose sighed, poking at her salad.

‘Who’s Sarah?’

‘Another colleague, she’s nice, I like her. But she is a bit pushy. She caught me texting you this morning and asked if we were sexting.’ She could not say this without blushing. She normally had no problem discussing sex in public. She worked with criminals for a living, there was only so much she could still be embarrassed by. But this was Luisa, and she had been having dreams and as a result she couldn’t exactly look Luisa in the face as she talked about them hypothetically having sex. Her mind had been filling those hypothetical blanks very nicely all on its own.

‘Were we?’ Luisa grinned, leaning over the table and resting her hand in her chin.

‘I-‘ Rose stammered, feeling her face turn hot.

‘I mean, it’s been three weeks, I would have talked you into bed by now,’ Luisa grinned smugly.

Rose wholeheartedly agreed with that statement. Luisa would have gotten lucky the first date they went on. But she couldn’t tell her that.

‘Whose apartment?’ Luisa asked, twirling her fork in her hand.

 ‘Yours? It has a better view and I am still unpacking.’

‘You are still unpacking? It’s been a month, Rose!’ Luisa frowned.

‘I know. It is just a couple of boxes of books and stuff, nothing really important,’ Rose shrugged.

‘I wished I didn’t have meetings every evening this week. I could help,’ Luisa suggested.

‘That’s okay. I appreciate the offer.’ Rose smiled politely. Relieved and disappointed at the same time that Luisa wasn’t coming over.

‘What did we do on our other dates? Did we have other dates?’

‘Two a week, maybe? After our first one?’

‘Sounds reasonable. Are we counting sleepovers?’ Luisa smirked, obviously more comfortable discussing the sexual part of their relationship than Rose was.  

‘Only if they occurred after said dates,’ Rose smiled, playing it cool. Acting like talking about their hypothetical dates and sleepovers meant nothing to her. Otherwise Luisa might get suspicious and she didn’t want that.

‘So, as I organized the first date. You get to have the second. Where would you take me?’ Luisa said, tilting her head adorably, and Rose couldn’t help but softly smile at her.

‘The beach. At night. So it was still warm but there were less people around, so we could talk. I would want to get to know you,’ Rose smiled, looking down at her hands, feeling like she had just given too much off herself away.

‘I would have liked that,’ Luisa smiled kindly. ‘Would you have bought me ice cream?’

‘Yes, chocolate and cherry.’ Rose smiled, remembering their discussion about favorite foods earlier. ‘In a cup because you like to mix them together as they melt.’

‘You have a good memory,’ Luisa said, sounding impressed. And Rose her heart sped up a little at that. She would have been able to recall everything Luisa had ever told her. She hoarded the information, each little thing she found out about her making her like Luisa even more.

‘Third date?’ Rose asked, she was actually enjoying talking about this. Even if they would never come true.

‘Right, that one’s on me,’ Luisa said, leaning back in their chair as she thought about it for a moment.

The hour Rose had for lunch suddenly seemed much shorter than usual as she and Luisa made up the story of their relationship. From planned dates to spontaneous knocks on the other’s door.

‘Well, I think that about covers it,’ Rose smiled, settling their bill. Luisa had wanted to pay, as she had invited her to lunch in the first place. But Rose cut her off by saying she was already doing her a huge favor and that paying for lunch was the least she could do to make up for it.

‘I am going to hug you now,’ Luisa warned, smiling teasingly as she approached with her arms spread. ‘And before you ask why, it is because you are my friend, okay?’

‘Okay,’ Rose said, the word _friend_ stinging just a little inside her chest.

Luisa’s smile became wider and she enveloped Rose in a hug, Rose closed her eyes as she returned the hug. Inhaling the fruity scent of Luisa’s shampoo. Not a thing friends do when exchanging hugs, but she couldn’t help herself.

‘We’ll text,’ Rose said as she was about to hail a cab.

‘Oh, Rose, wait,’ Luisa said, fumbling with her keys. ‘As I am going to be home late today, would you mind getting my mail for me? I can’t reach it myself. I’ll come pick it up from your apartment when I get home. Is that okay?’ Luisa said as she finally managed to get the mailbox key of her keyring.

‘Yes, of course,’ Rose said, accepting the key, it felt heavy in her hand. She had no idea why it meant so much to her, it was just the mailbox key. But somehow it made her feel special, Luisa trusted her enough to give her the key to her mailbox. That was some sort of progress. Not the progress she necessarily wished it was, but she realized that sooner or later she’d have to get over this crush and just settle for being friends with Luisa. It was just so hard, especially when everyone around her kept bringing up their fake relationship.

‘See you tonight!’ Luisa waved as Rose got into the cab.

‘See you tonight,’ Rose said, still holding the key in her hand. As the cab drove her back to her office, she added the key to her own keyring. She couldn’t help but smile as she looked it at.

It seemed she was just generally smiling a lot more that afternoon, as Kate and Sarah both remarked upon it. Kate saying that Luisa must really be something and Sarah just assuming that had had sex during their lunchbreak. Rose didn’t correct her and just smiled secretively, which Sarah only took as confirmation.

On her way home that evening, she couldn’t help but fidget with her keys, her fingers tracing the grooves on the newest one until she would be able to draw it from memory. She hummed softly to herself as she got Luisa’s mail; she was happy. Today had been a good day, her lunch with Luisa had made her almost forget about Leon and the fact that he could ruin her whole life three days from now. Almost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the comments you left on the previous chapter! It means a lot to me, I am so glad you all like this fic! 
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Rose couldn’t concentrate on the work in front of her at all. Thoughts of Luisa, the dinner Friday and the possible end of her very short law career were swirling through her head at hurricane speed. Each distracting in its own way.

She kept thinking of Luisa, of their texts, their lunch, the way she smiled. All pleasant distractions. Good in a way that didn’t fill her with a sense of impending doom. Because when she thought of Luisa, thoughts of her fake relationship with the brunette soon followed. And if she started thinking about their fake relationship, she eventually wound up thinking about dinner Friday and the subsequent end of her career if it went badly.

So, stuck in this constant cycle of happiness and dread, there hadn’t been a whole lot of her brain left to think about her opening statement. Which was not good. Tomorrow would be her first appearance in court here in Miami, and no matter how things went on Friday, if she blew this case she wouldn’t even have a career to speak of.

She shot the stack of envelopes, Luisa’s mail, on the other side of the table one last look before pushing all non-work related thoughts from her mind and taking another look at the paper in front of her.

The knock on her door startled her, she had finally found the right headspace to do her revisions and the passage of time had escaped her notice.

For a moment she was confused as to who it could be, but then she remembered Luisa was going to stop by to pick up her mail.

She reached for the envelopes, only to find about a thousand other papers in their place. Her mountains of paperwork had seemingly spread to the rest of the dining table, hiding the envelopes somewhere between them. She would deal with that later, it would be best to open the door for Luisa first.

She quickly ran a hand through her hair before opening the door, hoping she didn’t have pen or something equally embarrassing on her face.

‘Hi, Rose,’ Luisa greeted. ‘I like the glasses,’ she smiled.

Rose sheepishly pushed her glasses a little further up her nose. She had forgotten she had switched her contacts for glasses a few hours ago.

‘Thanks. I’ve got your mail. Somewhere...’ Rose said, walking back into her apartment to find the envelopes somewhere in the stack of equally white paper. ‘You can come in if you want,’ Rose said, shifting stacks of paper off her kitchen table, which had been doubling as a desk. ‘This might take a while.’

‘That is _a lot_ of paper,’ Luisa said, closing the door behind her as she slowly examined the room around her, her gaze coming to rest on the sea of paperwork.

‘Yeah, I have court tomorrow,’ Rose explained. ‘But I am sure I left your mail around here somewhere...’ she said, moving some pre-trail motions to the side as Luisa moved next to her.

‘Can I help or is there a system to this mess?’ Luisa asked, smiling warmly.

‘Not a system per se. But I lost it so I should find it,’ Rose said, running a hand through her hair nervously. Luisa had trusted her with her mail, and now she had lost it.

Rose groaned as she lifted up a yellow notepad only to find one envelope. She had hoped the envelopes would have at least stayed together, but it seemed that had been too good to be true.

‘I got one,’ she sighed, handing it over to Luisa.

‘How many were there?’ Luisa laughed, taking the envelope as she scanned the table for a possible second.

It wasn’t fair, Luisa was being way too nice and cute for Rose to get over her anytime soon. Even when she lost her mail and betrayed her trust the brunette was all smiles.

‘Five,’ Rose groaned, starting to sort her paperwork systematically now. Moving it from one side to the other wasn’t helping much.

‘Okay, who finds the most gets to decide what the other wears on Friday?’ Luisa said, one corner of her mouth lifted up into a smirk.

Rose didn’t know why Luisa would make it into a challenge, nor why it mattered what they wore on Friday, but it would definitely be faster and less awkward if Luisa helped.

‘Okay, deal,’ Rose said, she didn’t have anything to lose after all.

Luisa grinned and bent over, picking the four fallen envelopes of the ground. ‘I win,’ she laughed.

Rose stared at her with an open mouth before smiling slightly. ‘That’s cheating,’ she said, putting the papers she was holding down in stunned awe at Luisa playing her like that.

‘No, I found four of them. You only found one. I win,’ Luisa smiled. ‘I didn’t say I didn’t already know where they were,’ she smirked.

‘Okay, fine. You win,’ Rose sighed in defeat, the smile not disappearing from her face. ‘So what do I have to wear Friday?’

‘The red dress,’ Luisa said, not even taking a moment to think about it. ‘The one you wore on our first “date”,’ she smiled, putting date between air quotes.

‘We are really not going to a restaurant that fancy,’ Rose protested meekly, realizing a little too late what she had just admitted. She had worn that same dress to lunch with Luisa, which was really a much more casual affair than dinner with her colleagues was.

Luisa raised an eyebrow in response. ‘It’s fine and you don’t really have a say in the matter anymore,’ she said, her eyes sparkling.

‘Okay, red dress it is,’ Rose said, smiling back at Luisa. ‘And I am sorry for losing your mail.’

‘You didn’t really lose it, just momentarily displaced it. I do it all the time. And we found it, so no harm done. But I should probably get out of your hair, you’re obviously busy,’ she said, eyeing the remaining mess of papers on the table. ‘Thank you for getting my mail for me,’ she said as she walked towards the front door, Rose following close behind.

‘And then promptly losing it,’ Rose laughed as she opened the door for Luisa. ‘Let me give you your key back,’ she continued, fumbling with her keychain to get the small mailbox key off of it.

‘Keep it,’ Luisa said, putting her hand on Rose’s to stop her from completing the task. ‘You get my mail for me all the time. It makes sense if you have the key,’ she said, squeezing Rose’s hand softly.

Rose swallowed hard as she pretended not to notice how soft and warm Luisa’s hand was on her skin. How it made her nerves stand on end. ‘You still trust me with that?’ Rose questioned, only half joking.

‘Of course I do. You’re my girlfriend after all,’ Luisa winked.

Rose feeling her heartrate speed up a bit. She wondered if she would ever get that under control around Luisa.

Luisa smiled and withdrew her hand, stepping through the open door. ‘Text me how court went. With all the preparation you put into it, I am certain you’ll kick the ADA’s ass,’ Luisa smiled, giving Rose a little wave before disappearing up the stairs.

Rose closed the door, her hand resting on the doorknob for longer than was necessary. Her other hand securely wrapped around the tiny key Luisa had entrusted her with.

She knew she shouldn’t read into it. Friends asked each other how their day at work went all the time. It was not just a sitcom trope, real people actually did that. Luisa was just being a good friend. That was all.

Rose locked her door for the night and sat back at the dinner table, mindlessly moving some papers around.

One good thing had come from her conversation with Luisa. If even she herself was starting to believe their relationship was real, her colleagues _had_ to buy it.

She pulled the latest draft of her opening statement towards her. Maybe now the impending end of her career had been delayed for a while, she could actually focus.

But she had underestimated the grip Luisa had on her mind regardless of the fake girlfriend business. And she started wondering why Luisa would want her to specifically wear the red dress to dinner. She knew she looked good in it, Luisa had also commented on that when she saw her in it. But that didn’t necessarily explain why Luisa wanted her to wear it against so badly that she made a bet on it, one she was certain she’d win.

Rose groaned and pushed her glasses into her hair, pinching the bridge of her nose between thumb and forefinger. She was, once again, reading too much into Luisa’s behavior.

If there was one thing she had learned about Luisa in the past month, it was that she didn’t do things halfway. She was enthusiastic and passionate about everything she did, pretending to be her girlfriend amongst them.

The longer she thought about it, the more certain she became of one thing: Luisa would be able to convincingly play the part of her girlfriend. But she had the sinking feeling she herself was not going to be able to keep it together on Friday. She didn’t respond to Luisa naturally, not like one would react to a girlfriend.

When Luisa touched her, she didn’t lean into it. She wanted to, but she couldn’t. It was like her mind threw up a block every time it happened, to subconsciously protect her from any further heartbreak. Because if she allowed herself to enjoy these touches, she would never be able to stop, and that would put an end to the _actual_ friendship she had with Luisa.

So while Luisa could hold her hand and hug her convincingly, Rose wasn’t sure she could respond in kind without giving herself away to Luisa, while simultaneously convincing her coworkers they were actually in a relationship.

She sighed and put her glasses back on. How had being a friendly neighbor made her life so complicated? But that didn’t matter now, she had almost three days to get her feelings under control, or at least manage to hide them well enough to pass.

She was a _lawyer_. She could lie her ass off in front of the most intimidating judges. She could bluff her way through anything with an expressionless poker face. Except apparently, when she was around Luisa. When Luisa was near, she couldn’t censor her body language.

Her body reacted to Luisa automatically, her hair stood on end, her breath caught in her throat and her heart sped up. And when her body threw her for a loop, her mind usually followed. But maybe she could bent those reflexes to suit her purposes: she might not be able to stop them from happening, but maybe she could hide their meaning.

She uncapped a pen and grabbed a blank piece of paper. Three more days to figure it out, it had to be enough.

* * *

She and Luisa texted all through Wednesday, exchanging more random facts and stories about themselves. Rose saw Sarah and Kate giving her thumbs up and wide smiles whenever she was looking at her phone. It seemed Sarah had dragged Kate into her little club to make Rose as flustered as possible, but Rose didn’t actually mind. Sarah and Kate meant well and it was quite a good exercise in transforming her actual feelings for Luisa into more manageable fake ones.

The best exercise would of course be when Luisa was actually in the room, but it seemed that had to wait another day.

Because at around ten that evening, after Rose had just finished sending Luisa a paragraph long text about her day in court. Luisa said she was going to be very late that evening and that she would just pick up her mail the following day.

Rose was disappointed she wouldn’t get to test her fake feelings on Luisa that evening, but she was even more disappointed she wouldn’t get to see Luisa at all. She would love to talk to her in person for even a few minutes. She realized then that her little chats with Luisa had been the highlight of her day for weeks.

She sighed and fell back on the couch, it seemed she had some more work to do on manipulating her feelings into doing what she wanted. She still had two more days.

* * *

Thursday’s Luisa did show up at her door, with a cake.

‘Hi Rose,’ Luisa said happily.

‘Hi, Luisa,’ Rose said, frowning slightly in confusion as she looked at the bright pink cake in Luisa’s arms. ‘I didn’t forget your birthday, did I? That would kind of make me an awful fake girlfriend,’ Rose was mentally high-fiving herself for being able to say that without blushing, it seemed her strategy was working.

‘No, no. It’s not my birthday. A patient baked this for me,’ Luisa smiled. ‘I guess she is happy she is having a girl,’ she said, looking at the pink monstrosity in her arms. ‘I wanted to give it to you as thank you for always getting my mail for me, so here you go,’ she grinned, pushing the cake into Rose’s arms.

‘That is really not necessary,’ Rose smiled, trying to balance the plate in her hands to stop the frosting from staining her shirt. ‘But if you insist, the least I can do is to invite you in to share it with me,’ Rose said, taking a step back so Luisa could pass through the door.

Luisa smiled and stepped inside. ‘Well, I never say no to free cake,’ Luisa joked.

Rose brought it into the kitchen, pulling a knife from a drawer while Luisa leaned against the counter, watching her with interest.

Rose smiled, not letting Luisa’s staring affect her, it seemed she might actually be able to pull this con off the following night.

‘Oh my god, it is pink on the inside, too,’ Rose laughed, licking some frosting from her fingers as she placed the slice on a plate, sliding it towards Luisa.

‘It is so pink it is hurting my eyes,’ Luisa said, spearing a piece of it on her fork. ‘What if she actually wanted a boy and this cake is her trying to poison me?’ Luisa said, staring at the pink piece of cake on her fork suspiciously.

‘Only one way to find out,’ Rose said, taking a piece of her own slice of cake.

‘On three?’ Luisa laughed, halting the fork just before her lips, inadvertently drawing Rose’s attention to them.

Rose felt her mouth go dry but pushed the thoughts of those beautiful pink lips on hers away. It could never happen.

‘On three. One, two, three,’ Rose counted, popping the cake into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully as Luisa did the same.

‘Okay, that is actually not bad,’ Luisa said, taking another bite. ‘It is pretty good.’

‘It is.’ Rose agreed, the cake was very sweet but not too sweet to make it inedible, she had expected it to be strawberry flavored, but to her surprise it was red velvet. Or more accurately pink velvet.

‘Okay, if she poisoned it, I will at least die happy,’ Luisa shrugged as she took another bite.

‘Would you like something to drink?’ Rose asked when their slices were almost half gone, all the sugar was making her thirsty. ‘It’s a little late for coffee, but I think I have some orange juice and I could always make tea.’

‘Tea is fine,’ Luisa smiled warmly, Rose automatically smiling back at her.

‘I have…’ Rose started, rummaging through her cupboard in search for tea. Coming up with exactly one box of Earl Gray. ‘Earl Gray,’ she finished, taking two bags out and putting them in the mugs.

‘Not a huge tea drinker I take it,’ Luisa laughed.

‘No, not really, I live on coffee and water.’

‘Tea is basically flavored water,’ Luisa said, finishing her slice of cake, pushing the plate away from her.

‘It is, but it is more work to make it than to just get water,’ Rose said, pouring boiling water in the mugs.

‘But it is so much better than just water,’ Luisa smiled, wrapping her hands around the steaming cup of tea.

‘It’s nice when it is cold. But it rarely gets cold in Miami,’ Rose said, blowing softly on the tea to could it off, the steam fogging up her glasses.

‘Another reason why I don’t usually drink tea,’ Rose groaned, taking off her glasses to clean the lenses.

Luisa laughed at her misfortune, Rose putting on a mock hurt expression. It was easy to talk with Luisa, she might be heavily repressing her true feelings, but those had never gotten in the way of the easy conversations they had. And Rose could be happy with just this, or so she tried to convince herself.

There was still the matter of the smudge of pink frosting in the corner of Luisa’s mouth and the fact that she really wanted to kiss it away.

‘I think we should practice kissing,’ Luisa said, looking up from her tea.

‘What?’ Rose said, tearing her eyes away from Luisa’s lips, certain that she had misheard. It was impossible Luisa just said _that_.

‘We should practice kissing,’ Luisa repeated, completely calm. ‘So it is natural tomorrow evening.’

Rose blinked. So she _had_ heard it right. Her coping method was not going to be very helpful if she actually had to kiss Luisa at some point. Her body’s automatic response would be to kiss back and she was certain she would not be able to stop that.

‘Is that really necessary? We don’t have to kiss in front of them, it won’t mean anything if we don’t,’ Rose said, running a hand through her hair, looking down at the floor.

‘We don’t have to. I just thought it might be a good idea just in case. I may not know Leon very well, but he seems the type to force your hand. So it would be better if our kiss in front of your colleagues would not be our first. Because those can be very awkward,’ Luisa said, playing with the label on her teabag while looking straight at Rose, a small smile playing around her lips.

‘Yeah, no, I understand. But…’ Rose stammered, feeling herself turn red. She could not convincingly lie about this.

‘It’s okay if you don’t want to, it was just a suggestion,’ Luisa said, giving her a kind smile that was just a little bit sad.

Rose could not understand how Luisa could be so wrong. She was certain the longing to kiss Luisa was written all over her face. But she _couldn’t_ kiss her. Because while it would mean the world to her, it would be an empty gesture to Luisa. Like experimenting in college or kissing your best friend when you both had a little too much to drink

Rose didn’t mind those girls. Hell, she’d indulged them more than once. But this was different. She couldn’t stand the thought of her kiss being meaningless to Luisa while it meant so much to her. She had never felt this way about anyone before, and it was just her luck Luisa would never feel the same.

‘No, it’s okay. I just… Don’t think it will be necessary.’ Rose sighed, taking a sip of her still too hot tea. Burning her tongue in the process, serves her right.

‘Are you okay?’ Luisa asked concernedly as she noticed Rose’s pained expression.

‘Yeah, fine,’ Rose lied. ‘Just a little hot.’

Luisa nodded, but the look in her eye told Rose she didn’t believe a word she had just said.

Their conversation was a little strained after that, both Rose and Luisa not sure how to get rid of the awkwardness the possibility of a kiss had brought up between them.

Luisa finished her tea and stood up from her chair. ‘Thanks for the cake,’ she smiled. ‘But I should head home, we have a big day tomorrow,’ she grinned.

‘Right, we are expected at the restaurant at seven. So I’ll pick you up at six thirty?’ Rose asked, walking Luisa to the door.

‘Yeah, sounds great,’ Luisa smiled. ‘Don’t forget to wear the red dress.’

‘I won’t,’ Rose smiled back. ‘Thanks for the cake, and I’ll see you tomorrow.’

‘Sweet dreams!’ Luisa said before turning her back and walking up the stairs to her own apartment.

Rose didn’t have a lot of dreams that night. She couldn’t fall asleep and just lay tossing and turning in her bed. After Luisa had brought up the possibility of a kiss tomorrow, Rose couldn’t put it behind her.

Leon was exactly the kind to question them relentlessly about their relationship and a kiss would put any doubt out of anyone’s mind. If they could sell it convincingly that was. Which was why Luisa had proposed to practice their kiss in the first place.

Rose sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose while scrunching her eyes shut. Why couldn’t things just be simple?

* * *

She couldn’t concentrate on work at all the next day. She had managed to get a few fitful hours of sleep the night before, but now she was at work with Leon glaring mockingly at her, her nerves had grown tenfold. What if they couldn’t pull it off? What if she got caught in a lie? What if…

Her phone buzzed right at that moment with a text from Luisa.

“Don’t worry. I am a very convincing girlfriend. Leon will be green with jealousy by the end of the night.” A smiling and a winking emoji attached.

Rose took a deep breath and felt a smile tug at the corners of her lips, she had no idea how, but Luisa had just managed to make her feel better with just a perfectly timed message. She didn’t know how Luisa had even known she had been panicking, but she was glad she did.

Rose closed her eyes for a moment and tried to find her calm. Luisa was right, she would be convincing, and if she could just get herself back to the pre-kiss mention version of herself, Leon would never have any idea of how right he was.

‘Knock knock,’ Sarah smiled, carrying two cups of coffee. ‘You look like you could use this,’ she smiled, handing one cup to Rose.

‘Thanks, I really could,’ Rose said, blowing gently on the surface as to not burn her mouth again.

‘Are you nervous for tonight?’ Sarah asked, pulling a chair over to Rose’s desk.

‘Yeah, a little,’ Rose admitted, it was no use lying to Sarah about that. It was too plainly written on her face.

‘Don’t be. Luisa sounds wonderful and I will try to keep the hostile questions to a minimum. I promise I will behave.’

‘It is not you I am worried about,’ Rose sighed.

‘He is not going to pull anything in front of Hanson,’ Sarah said, squeezing Rose’s shoulder.

‘Let’s hope so.’

‘It is not only that, is it?’ Sarah said, her usual teasing tone abandoned.

Rose bit her lip, wondering what to tell Sarah. ‘It is just, we were in a relationship bubble before, just the two of us. And I am worried doing this is going to change things. And I don’t want that.’

‘You really like her, don’t you?’ Sarah said.

‘You have no idea how much,’ Rose said truthfully.

‘Well, I am sure it will all be fine,’ Sarah smiled. ‘Besides, none of you have met Ryan yet, so he can take some of the heat for you and Luisa. Don’t worry about it.’

‘Thanks Sarah, let’s hope you’re right,’ Rose smiled. ‘And thank you for the coffee too.’

* * *

After a long shower, three different hairstyles and a fight with her eyeliner, Rose was actually really grateful that Luisa had already picked out what she was going to wear. It probably saved her hours of debating on what the perfect dress would be.

She looked at herself in the mirror, she looked pretty dressy for just a dinner with coworkers, but the restaurant was quite fancy so she would probably get away with it. Besides, it was not like she had much of a choice. Luisa had asked her to wear it, so she would wear it.

She nervously paced around the room, already fully dressed and keeping an eye on the clock. She had half an hour before Luisa expected her, and if she stopped moving for a moment she was certain doubt would overtake her and she’d be unable to leave the apartment.

She didn’t like doing things unprepared, she always had a plan. And while they had discussed as much as possible about their fake relationship, Rose still felt like she was flying blind. So many things could go wrong. She could misspeak, tense up when Luisa touched her, laugh too much or not enough, Leon might still not believe her and cause a scene. There were too many variables and she didn’t like it.

She took a deep breath and checked her phone for the time, not trusting the clock on her wall; the hands were moving too slowly.

Sadly the clock on her phone showed the exact same time, but also a text from Luisa.

“I can hear you pacing two floors up. What’s wrong?”

Rose didn’t know if Luisa could actually hear her or if she just had a scarily accurate understanding of how Rose was feeling. Either way, it gave her something to do.

“Nothing is wrong, just nervous. I feel like I am about to go into court without having prepared at all.”

“You are more than prepared. You know may too many random details about me. And it is just a date, we are not getting a green card here. It won’t be that bad.”

Rose sighed and composed herself. Luisa was right, she _was_ prepared. And the only thing that might give them away was her own nerves. She took a couple of deep breaths, calming her nerves and trying to get her mental shields back up, she could do this.

* * *

Rose knocked on Luisa’s door at six thirty exactly, feeling a lot more composed and certain of their plan. She could do one fake date, her actual feelings for Luisa were unimportant this evening. She just had to allow enough of them to show through in order to fool her boss and colleagues.

She heard stumbling and a muffled curse coming from the other side of the door, and she couldn’t help but laugh. Maybe Luisa was a tiny bit nervous as well.

‘Hi, Rose. Come in,’ Luisa said, jumping on one leg as she tried to get her other heel on.

‘You look lovely,’ Rose said, meaning every word of it, the deep blue dress Luisa was wearing stood out against her tan skin and fitted her wonderfully.

‘So do you,’ Luisa said, leaning on Rose’s shoulder as she finally slipped on her shoe. ‘Glad you abided by the rules of our bet,’ she smiled.

‘Well, I didn’t have much choice.’ Rose smiled, looking around Luisa’s apartment, as expected the view was indeed magnificent.

‘So, are you ready to go?’ Luisa asked, when Rose just stood there silently.

‘Yeah, just one thing,’ Rose said, not taking a moment to think about her decision before she grabbed Luisa by the hips and pressed their lips together in a kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what does that mean?
> 
> Anyway, the next chapter will be the dinner, I promise! I hope you liked this chapter regardless, it was inspired by a lovely comment, so if any of you have any more ideas, please tell me, I am always open to them!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the kiss and the dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long, but I was quite stuck in my writer's block. Then I decided to say screw it and just write this chapter out of spite. And it worked! Yay! So enjoy!

All Rose’s nerves were firing at full volume. The feeling of Luisa’s soft lips against her own, the way their mouths moved together, the silk of Luisa’s dress underneath her fingertips, it was all clouding her mind and making her feel like she was floating.

The feeling of euphoria was probably the reason it took her so long to realize that Luisa was kissing her _back._ It seemed Luisa had overcome her initial surprise and had just leaned into the kiss.

When Luisa’s hand moved to her waist, Rose was so startled she dropped the mail she’d been holding. The noise broke them apart, both of them staring at the envelopes in silence for a few seconds. Trying to progress what just happened.

She had kissed Luisa, she shouldn’t have, but she had. And then Luisa had kissed her _back_. It had been close mouthed and chaste, but Rose knew that Luisa had responded after a few seconds of stunned surprise. Now what did _that_ mean?

The longer they stayed quiet, the more awkward it became and she had tried so hard to keep this fake relationship from becoming weird. And then she had blown it all up when she kissed a straight girl because she just couldn’t control herself.

She bit her lip. Wrong choice. Because now she could taste Luisa’s lip gloss on her own lips. She had to fix this, because it could never happen again. Luisa had probably just responded instinctively and her kissing back meant nothing. Her mind was just flushed with endorphins and making connections that weren’t really there.

They were still staring at the envelopes on the floor, neither of moving an inch. Rose took a deep breath as she tried to find a way out of this. She had caused this and now she had to deal with the consequences. Luisa was obviously uncomfortable because of the kiss and she really didn’t want Luisa to feel bad because of inability to keep her feelings under control.

‘That wasn’t a bad practice kiss,’ she said, forcing her lips into a small smile, running a hand through her hair.

Luisa looked up from the envelopes and met Rose’s gaze. Her eyes were completely unreadable and Rose felt a sinking feeling in her stomach.

Luisa lifted a finger to her mouth, tracing her lips, seemingly dazed.

‘Practice kiss, right,’ Luisa said, letting her hand drop back down to her side, and for a second Rose could have sworn she saw something similar to disappointment on her face. But then Luisa blinked and her earlier smile was firmly back in place.

‘You’re a great kisser,’ Luisa smiled, bending down to retrieve her mail from the ground.

‘Let me get that,’ Rose said, needing something to do because otherwise she would just keep staring straight ahead and repeat the phrase ‘you’re a good kisser’ over and over in her head.

Their hands brushed as they both reached for the same envelope. Rose was sad to note that their kiss had only increased the electricity of their other touches. This night was going to be absolute hell.

She smiled at Luisa and straightened up, handing her the other envelopes.

‘Great delivery,’ Luisa said, her eyes sparkling.

‘But I dropped them… Oh,’ Rose said as she realized Luisa had meant the kiss.

‘So are you ready to go now, or do you need to practice kiss me again?’ Luisa asked, putting the mail on her dinner table.

She was facing away from Rose and as such she had no way to know how serious she was being.

‘No, I think we got that under control. I don’t think a second one is necessary,’ Rose said, deciding it was better to be safe than sorry.

‘Shame,’ Luisa smiled, waving Rose over to the front door.

Rose smiled, at least the kiss hadn’t changed things for Luisa. Her joking, happy attitude from before was still the same.

So while Luisa seemed unaffected, it had only made her fall harder for the brunette. But that made no difference. They could never be together and she just had to deal with that. They would pretend to be a couple for tonight and then she could move on, date someone else, put a little distance between them so when she was ready they could just be friends.

But for tonight, they had to be more than friends in order to get Leon off her back. And no matter how conflicted her feelings were, she would do it. Her career was hanging in the balance after all.

Tonight had to go well. She had to convince her boss, five of her colleagues and their dates that she and Luisa were in a relationship or Leon would out her as a liar and ruin her career in the process.

She had to be just affectionate enough with Luisa to pull it off, but not too much as not to weird her out like the kiss surely had done. It was a fine line to walk and she had no idea where to draw it.

Luisa seemed to have forgotten about the kiss already and was just smiling and talking about kicking Leon’s ass. It was quite fun to hear her recount all the things she was going to say to Leon whenever he crossed a line, but she was wrestling with her thoughts and as such didn’t pay a lot of attention to what Luisa was saying. She thought she was being subtle about it, but it seemed she wasn’t fooling Luisa. That didn’t bode well for the rest of her evening were her acting skills would largely determine the success of this plan.

‘You’re nervous,’ Luisa said as they waited for a cab to pull over. ‘Don’t be,’ she said, taking Rose’s hand in her own, squeezing softly. ‘Dating is pretty much just being best friends with someone with more handholding and kissing. And if the physical aspects freak you out we can just tone it down. No two relationships are the same and not everyone likes to be affectionate in public.’ Luisa said, her warm smile calming Rose’s beating heart a bit.

Rose nodded. ‘You’re right, we’re just friends who kiss,’ Rose smiled. ‘No need to be nervous about that.’ _Oh, if only you knew._ ‘But I am worried it won’t be enough to fool Leon, he has a reputation. He could catch a nun in a lie. I am pretty sure the ‘lawyers are sharks’ stereotype is based on him.’

‘Well, good thing I am not a nun then,’ Luisa smiled conspiratorially, making Rose blush again. ‘I am an _excellent_ liar. Nuns aren’t, so catching a nun in a lie isn’t really that difficult. I can act like I am totally in love with you no problem,’ Luisa said, the look in her eyes softening a bit. Her thumb rubbing calming circles on the back of Rose’s hand.

Rose could feel her nerves dissipate as Luisa continued the affectionate motions. She really had to get over herself, and she had to do it fast, because a cab had just pulled up to the curb, waiting for them to get in. 

Luisa let go of her hands to open the door, and Rose immediately missed the contact and wanted to seek it out again. That was good, it would help her sell the story, if only by the end of the evening she herself remembered it was just a _story._

As soon as she slid into the seat next to Luisa, she intertwined their hands again.

Luisa gave her a surprised smile but didn’t pull her hand away, just giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Rose smiled back, getting to touch Luisa for a night might not be so bad after all. Sure, she would probably miss them twice as much when it was over, but right now, it was pretty damn nice.

The rest of the short ride to the restaurant was spent in silence, their hands still linked on the seat between them.

‘Okay, are you ready?’ Luisa asked as the cab stopped in front of the awning announcing the restaurant’s name in bold white letters.

‘Yes, we can do this. Let’s kick Leon’s ass.’ Rose said, finally realizing that she should approach this as a fun night out instead of a nerve-wracking chore if she wanted it to work.

‘It will be my pleasure,’ Luisa grinned, and at that moment Rose felt like they had everything under control. Luisa smile always had a calming effect on her.

‘You have some of my lipstick in the corner of your mouth,’ Luisa said, already reaching up to wipe it away.

‘No, leave it,’ Rose said, catching Luisa’s wrist between her fingers. ‘It will look good that we can’t keep our hands off each other.’

Luisa’s smile got even wider and her eyes twinkled with amusement. ‘I can handle that,’ she smiled, hooking her arm through Rose’s and resting her head on her shoulder. ‘Ready?’

‘Ready,’ Rose nodded, walking through the doors of the restaurant, holding Luisa close.

* * *

They were a little early, Rose’s nerves having sent her to Luisa’s apartment much earlier than necessary.

To her surprise, they weren’t the first ones there. In a stroke of luck (or not, only time could tell), Sarah and her boyfriend were already there, standing at the bar.

‘Rose!’ Sarah said when she spotted them, excitedly waving her over.

‘Here we go,’ Rose said, enjoying the reassuring squeeze Luisa gave her.

‘Sarah, this is Luisa, my girlfriend,’ Rose smiled, she couldn’t help it. Saying it felt nice.

‘Hello, nice to meet you,’ Luisa said, shaking Sarah’s hand. ‘Rose told me a lot about you.’

‘I am sure she did,’ Sarah laughed. ‘She won’t shut up about you either.’

Luisa shot her a surprised sideways glance, obviously trying to gauge if that was true. And Rose had to admit it was, she talked _a lot_ about Luisa, no matter if their relationship was real or not.

‘Well, it is nice to finally put a face to the name.’

‘Speaking about putting names to faces, you must be Ryan,’ Rose said, shaking his hand as well. ‘So how is the remodel going?’

‘Oh, it’s going well,’ Ryan laughed. ‘Sarah knows exactly what she wants, I just have to get things of high shelves for her.’ he teased. He was quite a bit taller than her bubbly colleague.

‘Hey!’ Sarah said, elbowing him in the side. ‘Not funny.’

Rose watched their interaction with fascination, if everything went south tonight, she could always just imitate whatever Sarah and Ryan were doing, they looked like a great couple.

‘I know what you mean,’ Luisa said. She and Sarah were about the same height, but Luisa had a couple inches on Sarah in her heels. ‘I am sure Rose told you we met because I wasn’t tall enough to get my own mail,’ Luisa laughed.

‘Yeah, I’ve heard that. Why don’t we have a nice meet-cute to tell people about?’ Sarah asked Ryan, who just shrugged.

‘How did you two meet?’ Luisa asked.

‘Internet dating,’ the both said simultaneously.

‘So that is why you never told me how you met,’ Rose said, enjoying how well this was going. It was just normal, friendly conversation, not an interrogation like she had expected. Also, Luisa was still holding her hand and it helped Rose feel at ease.

Slowly the rest of her colleagues started to arrive and soon the seats were filled, with one notable exception: Leon wasn’t there yet. Just as well, the longer he stayed away, the longer Rose could enjoy the relaxed atmosphere.

Luisa was sitting right next to her, their chairs pushed a little closer together than was strictly necessary, so that every time Luisa turned her head, Rose caught the scent of her flowery shampoo.

‘So Luisa, Rose said you were a doctor?’ Kate asked, she had brought her husband as her date, and he and Ryan were talking about sports while Kate and Sarah seemed to have started the interrogation portion of the night.

‘Yes, I’m an OB/GYN,’ Luisa said, taking a sip of her water. ‘I have a private clinic in…’

Her answer was cut short by Leon’s arrival.

Rose bit her lip to keep from laughing at the look of absolute loathing Luisa was giving her colleague.

Leon looked slightly surprised to see Luisa sitting at her side and this time Rose couldn’t stop the smile that broke across her face as Luisa gave Leon an exaggerated wink.

Hanson, her boss, welcomed Leon to the table and it was at that moment Rose realized he was alone, no date.

Luisa seemed to have figured it out as well and squeezed Rose’s knee under the table. ‘It seems our friend Leon hasn’t been able to secure a date for the night, shame.’

And while no one remarked upon it, everybody had noticed Leon was the only one without a date, and that while he was the one who has suggested it in the first place.

The conversation at the table slowly restarted as Leon waved over a waitress and barked a drink order at the young girl serving them that evening.

Rose tried to focus on the conversation between Luisa, Kate and Sarah but she couldn’t redirect her focus away from Leon. It was weird he didn’t have a date with him. He might be an asshole but, and Rose hated to admit this, he was a handsome one, and there would be no shortage of girls who’d want to go out with a successful lawyer with a pretty face. So Rose refused to believe he had failed to find a date, and that meant that the absence of a woman on his arm must be intentional, and if it was intentional, he had a plan.

‘Rose? Rose?’ Luisa said, bumping their knees together underneath the table. ‘What do you want to drink?’

Rose blinked and suddenly realized the waitress standing next to them with her notebook.

‘Just water is fine,’ Rose smiled, nudging Luisa back underneath the table.

‘The same for me, please,’ Luisa said.

‘You can order whatever you want, my treat,’ Hanson said, raising his own glass of whiskey to the two of them.

Rose cringed a bit at that statement, the only thing that kept her from showing it outright was her courtroom poker face. Hanson meant well of course, but he had just touched upon a bit of a sore subject.

Rose automatically covered Luisa’s hand with her own and squeezed softly, hoping to convey that she had Luisa’s back.

‘That is very kind but I don’t drink. I’ve been sober for nearly two years now,’ Luisa said calmly. Which surprised Rose a bit as she had had difficulty telling just her about it, but this whole table full of strangers didn’t seem to be a problem.

‘Oh, I am sorry. I didn’t know,’ Hanson said, nodding his head in understanding,

‘That’s okay. You couldn’t have known,’ Luisa said, flipping her hand over so she could lace her fingers between Rose’s.

The moment of silence at the table was broken when the ice in Leon’s glass clattered loudly against the sides.

Everyone glared at him, Sarah using her patented courtroom stare of death, but Leon didn’t seem bothered by it.

‘What? I am not sober. You don’t mind if I drink, do you?’ he asked Luisa. Rose resisting the urge to punch the vile smile off his face.

‘Of course not, Leo,’ Luisa said coolly, wearing a sweet smile only Rose knew to be fake.

Rose could barely hold back a snicker. Luisa knew Leon’s name, she had uses it just a few minutes ago, but she had correctly intuited that Leon hated it when people called him Leo.

‘It’s Leon,’ Leon said tersely.

‘Oh, sorry. You don’t mind if I call you Leo, do you?’ Luisa smiled, the look in her eyes cold and precise as she took a sip of her water.

Rose wanted to kiss her for that perfect shut down. And she probably would have if her boss wasn’t sitting at the table and if Luisa had actually been her girlfriend.

Leon didn’t answer, just angrily taking another swallow of his drink.

Luisa smiled triumphantly at her, bumping their knees together underneath the table once again.

Rose saw Kate give her a thumbs up and Sarah was coughing so loudly to cover up her laughing Ryan actually started patting her on back.

‘You’re in the wrong profession,’ Rose whispered softly, leaning into Luisa’s space, getting another hit of that intoxicating shampoo.

‘How so?’ Luisa asked, turning her head so their faces were only inches from each other.

Rose swallowed hard before answering. ‘You should have been a lawyer. That was a perfect!’ she smiled.

‘I don’t think I would be any good in a courtroom, I’d get emotional over stupid things and be held in contempt for yelling at the judge.’

‘No judge would ever hold you in contempt…’ _you’re too cute_ being the unsaid part of that sentence. And while it was absolutely something a girlfriend would say, right now, while they were whispering together they were just Rose and Luisa, two friends who pretended to be dating so Leon would stop hitting on her. So she could absolutely not say that to Luisa right now.

‘Why not?’ Luisa asked, her eyes sparkling like she knew what Rose had been going to say.

Rose didn’t know if she was just imagining it, but it seemed like Luisa did that a lot, seemingly reading her mind. It was quite disconcerting really.

‘Because…’ Rose started, thankfully being saved from having to answer that question when the waitress reappeared at their table to take their order.

Rose, who hadn’t even opened her menu, either too busy figuring out what Leon was planning or trying to keep her feelings for Luisa in check, just ordered the same as Luisa, earning her a teasing smile from Sarah and Kate.

Rose rolled her eyes at them and turned back to Luisa who was explaining something to one of her other colleagues.

Rose wouldn’t have believed it an hour earlier, but she was actually enjoying herself at this dinner, it was nice to see her colleagues relax and unwind a bit and their partners were all really nice. Plus there was the added bonus of constantly getting to touch Luisa.

If Leon hadn’t been there it would have been perfect. But he hadn’t bothered them after Luisa’s “Leo” comment so it was almost like he wasn’t there.

The first course passed by uneventfully, she and Luisa took turns answering questions about their relationship. Rose got to explain once again how they met, and she actually quite liked telling the story, letting her true feelings shine through more and more every time she told it.

* * *

After the entrée, Luisa excused herself for a moment, kissing her on the cheek as she got up.

Rose was still smiling to herself when the vultures, Sarah and Kate, descended.

‘She’s amazing!’ Kate said

‘You two are so cute together!’ Sarah squealed.

‘Thank you,’ Rose said, running a hand through her hair. ‘I really like her.’

‘Yeah, we can see that,’ Sarah grinned.

‘And she really likes you, too,’ Kate smiled. ‘She can’t stop looking at you.’

Rose tried to keep the surprise from showing up on her face. It would be weird if the fact that her _girlfriend_ couldn’t stop looking at would be new information. And while Rose knew she was constantly looking at Luisa, she hadn’t noticed Luisa was doing the same. The brunette must be one hell of an actor.

‘We just really like each other,’ Rose shrugged.

‘What are the chances of you running into the perfect girlfriend in the lobby of your building?’ Sarah asked.

‘Next to nothing,’ Rose sighed. Because yes, she had run into Luisa in the lobby of their building, but what Sarah and Kate didn’t know was that the affection was very one sided. So while Luisa would be her perfect girlfriend, she wasn’t _actually_ her girlfriend.

‘My building is just filled with idiots who won’t pick up their socks,’ Sarah said loudly, getting Ryan’s attention.

‘We life in a house…’ Ryan said, just before realizing that Sarah had meant him. ‘Hey! That’s not very nice,’ he said.

‘Tough luck. I bet Luisa never leaves her socks lying around,’ Sarah said, looking at Rose, one corner of her mouth curled up.

‘We don’t wear a lot of socks, so them lying around isn’t really a problem,’ Rose said, not able to remember if she had ever seen Luisa wear something other than a skirt or dress with heels. She didn’t think so, with legs like Luisa’s why hide them?

‘Speaking about Luisa,’ Rose said, noticing the brunette still hadn’t returned to the table. ‘I think I might go check on her,’ she said slowly, her eyes narrowing when she noticed Leon was no longer at the table either.

She had no idea when he had gotten up, but she had a pretty good idea where he had gone.

* * *

She found Luisa standing in the hallway leading to the bathrooms, having a hushed conversation with Leon.

‘… I know you two are faking it,’ Leon said.

Rose hadn’t heard what he said before that, but Luisa’s jaw was clenched tightly and while Rose had never seen her even remotely angry, her body language screamed volumes.

‘Everything okay here?’ Rose asked, wrapping her arm around Luisa’s waist, pulling her close. Both as a couple-y gesture for Leon and to let Luisa know she was not alone.

‘Give up this charade, Rose,’ Leon said. ‘I know she isn’t really your girlfriend.’

Rose sighed, everyone else seemed to buy it, and she knew they were very convincing, so they only reason Leon still didn’t believe them was his own ego and pigheadedness.

‘Why would be faking being a couple? What could we possibly gain from that?’ Luisa said, some of the stiffness disappearing form her posture as Rose had started rubbing soothing circles on her hipbone.

‘I don’t know. But you are not together. You can’t be,’ Leon hissed. ‘I see the way you look at me.’

Rose was starting to lose her patience. Why had she ever been intimidated by this asshole? He had his head stuck so far up his ass it was a wonder he could still walk.

‘You’re just upset your date stood you up,’ Luisa said. ‘Or is there another reason you’re here alone?’

Rose didn’t know how she’d missed it, but Luisa was right. Leon had shown up late without a date and the first thing he had done was order a stiff drink. He had been stood up. There was no grand master plan, his date had just realized what a dick he really was. Rose wanted to laugh.

‘My date cancelled last minute, some kind of emergency,’ Leon bit out, it was a weak excuse and they all knew it.

‘That is just girl-speak for “I don’t want to go out with you”,’ Luisa clarified. ‘It seems she too has realized what a terrible person you are. You are such an arrogant prick, you accuse us of faking a relationship because you can’t get it through your thick skull that lesbians, like us, are not attracted to men. And somehow you have taken this as a personal insult. I don’t know why, because speaking as a lesbian who has known she liked girls since she was four, I never liked men. _Any_ of them. So if you really think you are such a hotshot you can convert lesbians, you are an idiot, it doesn’t work like that. Now please get over yourself and stop hitting on Rose. She doesn’t like you, and she never will,’ Luisa said, finishing her rant with a huff.

Rose had slowly seen the color drain from Leon’s face and it was the best thing she’d ever witnessed. Luisa had just said what she had wanted to say to Leon from day one, insults included. And while very satisfying to watch, there was one thing still messing with her head: Luisa had sounded very sincere throughout the whole rant, including the part where she called herself a lesbian. And that had to be a lie, right?

‘Hey, are you coming? Dinner is ready,’ Sarah said as she joined the three of them in the hallway, immediately noticing the angry postures of both Luisa and Leon and Rose’s slightly confused frown.

‘What’s going on?’ she asked, carefully stepping in between them, looking from Rose to Leon to Luisa.

‘He won’t believe we are a couple,’ Luisa said, glaring at Leon, who still seemed at a loss for words.

Sarah sighed and rolled her eyes. ‘Let’s go eat. You’ve got nothing to prove.’

‘Right, we don’t,’ Rose said, snapping out of her stupor. ‘Come on, Luisa.’ she said, intertwining their hands and pulling Luisa along. Only Luisa wouldn’t budge, still staring daggers at Leon.

‘If we weren’t really dating, would I do this?’ Luisa said, and before Rose knew what was happening, Luisa had thrown her arms around her neck and pulled her down to her level and crashed their lips together.

Rose’s eyes fell closed as soon as their lips touched, her hands finding purchase on Luisa’s hips.

This kiss was much more demanding and firm than their “practice” kiss, and when Luisa ran her tongue over her bottom lip, Rose automatically granted her access, no longer capable of thinking about the consequences of her actions.

Rose dug her fingers a little harder into Luisa’s hips as Luisa’s tongue licked into her mouth, needing something to hold on to as the electricity of the kiss was making her knees weak.

Their practice kiss might have been nice, but this was a _kiss_ and Rose didn’t want it to end. Ever. Because while the way Luisa’s tongue stroked against her own was not _friendly_ at all, they were just friends and this would never happen again; it was just for show.

Eventually the lack of air was making her lightheaded and she regretfully pulled away, resting her forehead against Luisa’s as she caught her breath.

She blinked open her eyes and met Luisa’s sparkling brown ones, and she couldn’t help but smile.

‘Hey,’ Rose said, her voice a little raspy.

‘Hey,’ Luisa smiled back, untangling her hands from Rose’s hair and pulling back a bit.

As soon as Luisa’s hands were gone, Rose remembered Leon and Sarah had been there and had seen the whole thing.

While both of them were wearing equally shocked expressions, Sarah’s was more of a beaming smile and Leon’s was more horrified.

‘So, you said something about dinner being served?’ Luisa smiled, pretending they had not just been making out in the hallway of a restaurant while people were watching.

‘Yeah, uhm, this way,’ Sarah said, turning around.

Rose just followed Luisa, her mind still numb from the kiss. Leon stayed behind in the hallway, even more shocked by the kiss than Rose was.

Leon didn’t return to the table, which was just as well, because the kiss had sort of blown Rose’s mind and on top of Luisa’s seemingly sincere declaration of being gay and Kate and Sarah assuring her Luisa was continuously looking at her as well, Rose was wondering if she had grossly misinterpreted the signs. And as she thought about the possibility that Luisa might feel the same way about her, she forgot she was supposed to already be in a relationship with the brunette next to her.

The main course and dessert sort of passed her by, it was nice but she kept thinking about Luisa’s tongue in her mouth and what it could possibly mean.

Luisa, who had noticed Rose had spoken about 9 words ever since they came back, quietly pulled her to the side as they were leaving. ‘We need to talk.’

‘We really do,’ Rose said. ‘But not here.’

Luisa nodded, her eyes a little shinier than usual. ‘Okay.’

* * *

Rose spent the cab ride back home reassessing everything she knew about Luisa and realizing that she might have been wrong about the meaning of Luisa’s actions.

Luisa was uncharacteristically quiet as well, seemingly lost in her own head.

‘Let’s got to my apartment,’ Rose said as she opened the front door of the building.

‘I- I can’t,’ Luisa said, shaking her head. ‘I am sorry I kissed you. I shouldn’t have done that. I was just so angry at Leon, and I am sorry I made you uncomfortable,’ Luisa rambled.

‘You didn’t make me uncomfortable.’ Rose smiled, stepping closer to Luisa, who backed up against the mailboxes. ‘Quite the opposite really,’ Rose said, reaching out to tuck a lock of hair behind Luisa’s ear.

‘Oh… Oh!’ Luisa said, her eyes going wide as she realized what Rose had only realized minutes before: they had both gotten the whole thing backwards.

‘So, if it is okay with you. I would quite like to kiss you again,’ Rose said, smiling softly at Luisa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would love to know how many of you cursed my name when you read the first few paragraphs and realized I still wasn't going to make them realize they are very gay for each other and how many times you groaned in frustration every time I did it after. I hope the ending makes up for it though!
> 
> Thank you for sticking with me through my writer's block. I'll try to go back to updating this on Thursday's and in the next chapter they will finally have to talk about their feelings and probably kiss some more. Yay!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I should just stop making promises all together. I am sorry I am late, again. But I had forgotten I needed to write two papers this week and prep for an exam, so I was really quite busy. But still, I know you all look forward to these updates so I am sorry for making you wait. 
> 
> I think I am going to move this fic to Sunday's, as I have the whole day to write. So from next week on, expect updates on Sunday, I will try to stick to it this time. Promise!
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Luisa didn’t answer, but the smile breaking across her face was enough to make Rose step even closer.

She brought one hand up to tuck a lock of hair behind Luisa’s ear, the other resting on her waist. As one hand lingered on Luisa’s cheek, the other rubbed slow circles on the soft silk of Luisa’s blue dress. Their lips were only a hair’s breadth from the other’s and Rose smiled as she brushed their lips together.

When their lips finally pressed together fully, Rose felt like she might explode with happiness. Their kisses before had been electric, especially the second one. But this one had something the other hadn’t had: the possibility of more. This time, Rose wasn’t worried what Luisa’s reaction might be. She wasn’t worried that she would never get to kiss her again. And knowing that Luisa felt the same made the kiss that much more magical.

There was no hurry behind the kiss, no moment where she would realize it wasn’t real, because it _was_. It was their first real kiss.

And although there was no hurry behind it, eventually the close-mouthed pushing and pulling of their lips wasn’t enough. Rose pulled Luisa even closer against her and ran her tongue across Luisa’s bottom lip.

She could feel Luisa smile against her lips as she opened her mouth a bit, meeting Rose’s tongue in the middle

As the kiss deepened, Rose lost all perception of time. The only thing that mattered were Luisa’s lips on her own and her tongue in her mouth. It was easily the best kiss she had ever had.

She kept Luisa closely pressed against her as she pulled back a bit, her lungs screaming for air. After a couple of much needed gulps of oxygen, it was Luisa who pressed their lips together again, and Rose wasn’t about to complain.

And so one kiss turned into two, which turned into three, which turned into four.

It wasn’t until someone pointedly cleared their throat behind them that Rose realized they were kissing in the lobby, and had been for a long time now.

Rose pulled away a little further this time, her hand still resting on Luisa’s middle.

‘You’re blocking my mail box,’ the man said, clearly amused.

‘Right, sorry,’ Rose said sheepishly, stepping a little to the side so she and Luisa were no longer standing in front of the mailboxes.

Luisa smiled up at her, her eyes shining with joy and Rose couldn’t help but giggle a little. This was the second time today they had been making-out in public, and Rose could imagine what that meant for the future of their relationship. The _future_ of their relationship.

Rose’s smile became even wider as she once again realized that they actually had a future together now, but they should talk about that first. Maybe after another kiss. Because now she could freely kiss Luisa, she didn’t think she was ever going to stop.

‘We should probably still talk,’ Rose said, dropping her hand from Luisa’s waist and tangling their fingers together.

‘We should. Is the offer to go to your apartment still open?’ Luisa said, her eyes shining mischievously, and Rose was suddenly reminded of the talk they had at lunch earlier that week, about when they would have slept together and she couldn’t help but blush a little.

‘Yes, it is,’ she said, starting up the stairs, holding on to Luisa’s hand.

On top of everything that one little thing, just holding Luisa’s hand while they climbed the stairs, made Rose feel incredibly happy. She had thought about doing that countless times when they climbed the stairs together. And now she got to actually do it.

She had envisioned some other changes in their nightly mail ritual as well, hopefully ones involving kisses. But she was getting ahead of the situation, they first had to talk about exactly what this meant, what _they_ meant.

Rose fumbled with her keys as she tried to unlock the door of her apartment. She had left it hours earlier stressed and hopeless. And now she returned not only happy, but with Luisa’s hand firmly clasped in her own.

As they walked through the door, Rose was a little uncertain what to do next. Yes, they should talk, but how do you approach a subject like this? So instead of diving right in, Rose decided to stall a bit to get her thoughts in order.

‘Would you like some tea?’ Rose asked. ‘I bought some different flavors…’

‘Yeah, tea would be nice,’ Luisa smiled, leaning against the counter as Rose busied herself around the kitchen. Pulling a couple of boxes of different kinds of tea from a cupboard.

‘You bought more,’ Luisa said, a surprised smile on her face.

‘Yeah, I thought it would be nice to have a couple more flavors than just Earl Grey,’ Rose smiled as she grabbed two mugs, filling them with boiling water.

‘I thought you didn’t really drank tea,’ Luisa said, picking a flavor and hanging the tea bag in one of the mugs.

‘I don’t,’ Rose smiled, she would have been content with just Earl Grey for the rare occasions she drank tea, but Luisa liked tea and she thought she should have some in case Luisa came over again. They might not have been dating at that point, Rose wanted Luisa to feel comfortable in her apartment, and if buying green tea was the way to do that, then that was what she would do.  

Luisa laughed as she blew on the surface of her tea. ‘Well, thank you,’ she smiled. ‘I appreciate it.’

That was all Rose needed to hear in order for her to smile.

‘Let’s sit down, we should to talk about all of this,’ Rose said, motioning to the couch. ‘Because I really like kissing you and I don’t want to stop.’

‘Me neither,’ Luisa said.

There was a moment of awkward silence as they sat down on the couch, neither of them knowing where to start.

‘Can we just go back to kissing?’ Luisa laughed, running a hand through her hair. ‘I like that better than thinking of what to say about our ridiculous situation.’

‘That is exactly why we should talk about it. Because I still don’t know what any of this means. I thought you were straight and that you would never like me the way I liked you. And then the whole fake-dating situation happened, and I need to know if we are actually dating now and how it is possible we were so blind the whole time.’

‘I guess we just have the worst gaydars of all time,’ Luisa sighed. ‘Unless you’re not gay, I mean, you could be bi, or pan, or questioning. Am I the first woman you’ve liked?’ Luisa rambled.

‘No, you’re not.’ _But you are the first woman I’ve liked this much._ Rose thought, but this relationship, if that was what this was, was still very early and she didn’t want to make things weirder than they already were. ‘I have known I liked girls since I was about 14, and I exclusively like girls in case you were wondering,’ Rose smiled.

‘That means I accidentally outed you to that prick,’ Luisa said, covering her mouth with her hand. ‘I am so sorry.’

‘It’s okay. You didn’t know and you accidentally outed yourself too. It was just that neither of us realized just how truthful you were being,’ Rose said, reaching over to touch Luisa’s arm in what she hoped was a comforting gesture.

‘Yeah, I know right? We could have _actually_ been dating weeks ago,’ Luisa smiled.

‘So does that mean we’re dating?’ Rose asked, she just needed to be sure.

‘Well, will you let me take you out on a date?’ Luisa asked, her eyes sparkling.

‘Yes, I will. Will you let me kiss you again?’ Rose asked, unable to keep the smile off her face.

‘I thought you’d never ask,’ Luisa asked, putting her tea down and leaning over, tangling her hands in Rose’s hair as she pulled her closer.

They kissed like no one was watching, and this time, no one was.

‘I can’t believe you thought I was straight,’ Luisa smiled, taking a sip of her tea that had cooled down quite a bit after their couch make-out session.

‘Well, you thought I was straight, too,’ Rose said, drawing random patterns on Luisa’s knee.

‘That is because you kept pulling away whenever I touched you,’ Luisa said, covering Rose’s hand with her own. ‘I thought I made you uncomfortable.’

‘I wasn’t uncomfortable, it just made me anxious because I thought it meant nothing to you and I so definitely wanted it to mean more. I thought you were just being friendly. And I was the one that kissed you first.’

‘Which you then promptly explained away as a practice kiss,’ Luisa pouted. ‘For a second there I hoped you might feel the same.’

‘I thought I had made you uncomfortable! I was trying to make it not weird,’ Rose sighed. ‘We really suck at taking hints.’

‘Yeah we do. But it worked out alright,’ Luisa smiled, kissing Rose’s hand softly.

‘It did,’ Rose smiled, leaning over to kiss Luisa again. Now she could finally kiss the brunette whenever she wanted, she wasn’t going to let that opportunity go to waste.

‘Mmh,’ Luisa started as she broke away from the kiss, her hand on Rose’s shoulder, squeezing it softly. ‘Are you free tomorrow night? I want to take you out,’ she grinned.

‘I am free,’ Rose smiled. ‘Where are we going?’

‘I haven’t decided yet. We kind of went through all my date ideas when we discussed our hypothetical dates,’ Luisa mused.

‘I wouldn’t mind making those hypotheticals into a reality,’ Rose smiled softly.

‘Would you allow me to steal your date idea? I would love to take you to the beach.’

‘I would like that,’ Rose smiled, actually feeling like a teenager in that moment. Wonderfully nervous and happy at the prospect of a first date with the girl she liked.

‘Great. I’ll pick you up at 8?’

Rose nodded. ‘I’m looking forward to it.’

‘Well, now that is set, I think I should go home. I am at risk of passing out on your couch.’

Rose wanted to offer Luisa the couch, she wanted to offer Luisa her bed, with her in it or not, that was optional. And if Luisa lived anywhere but two floors above her, she would have. But they had just started dating, hadn’t even started technically, and it was all so new. Rose didn’t want to ruin it by moving too fast. So she just nodded, standing up to open the door for Luisa. Hoping that one day Luisa wouldn’t have to leave when it got late, that they could fall asleep on the couch or cuddle up in bed together. Someday, but not right now.

‘Is there a dress code for tomorrow?’ Rose asked jokingly, her heart starting to beat a little faster as she saw Luisa bite her lip and run her eyes up her body. 

‘Wear a bikini. We are going to the beach after all,’ Luisa grinned, focusing her eyes on Rose’s again.

Rose nodded as she tried to find her voice after Luisa’s open appraisal. ‘Okay. So I’ll see you tomorrow evening?’ she finally said, opening the door for Luisa.

‘Yes you will,’ Luisa smiled, pushing up on her toes to give Rose one last goodnight kiss. ‘Goodnight, Rose.’ Luisa smiled as she pulled away.

‘Goodnight, Luisa,’ Rose smiled back, leaning against the doorpost as she watched Luisa climb the stairs to her apartment. She waited for the faint slam of a door two floors up before retreating back into her own apartment.

She cleaned up their mugs, and as she passed a mirror, she noticed she was still smiling. Today had been a good day and she couldn’t wait for their date tomorrow.

She grabbed her phone out of her bag so she could charge it, and she couldn’t resist typing a message to Luisa.

“Did you get home safe?” she asked, smiling to herself as she walked into her bedroom.

“Yes, I did,” Luisa’s response came just seconds later, a lot of winking and smiling emoticons added for emphasis. Rose couldn’t help but smile even wider.

“Glad to hear it, I heard the staircase is very dangerous this time of night.”

“Yeah, lots off people making out in it,” Luisa replied, another winking and smirking emoji attached.

Rose could feel her cheeks color as she remembered their make-out session in the lobby earlier that night, and that inevitably reminded her of their make-out session in the restaurant, and that made her want to kiss Luisa again. She didn’t think she could go this long without kissing Luisa again, it was still almost 20 hours until their date.

“I think I might dream about those people making out,” Rose replied, flicking on the lights in her bathroom as she started to remove her makeup. Her own red lipstick was completely gone from her lips, but she could detect some traces of Luisa’s pink one around her lips.

She raised a finger to her lips, tracing them softly, she couldn’t believe she had gotten to kiss Luisa. Yesterday, she would have never believed she would have ever gotten to kiss Luisa, and today it went from a “practice” kiss to full on making-out in public, twice, and then making-out some more on the couch in her apartment. She didn’t really want to clean it off, but then she remembered that now she and Luisa were dating, she could kiss her whenever she wanted.

She had had girlfriends before, even some longer lasting relationships, but never before had she felt this strongly about anyone.

“Sweet dreams.” Luisa’s last message to her read. And Rose didn’t doubt she would.

“Sweet dreams, see you tomorrow,” Rose replied as she climbed into bed and turned off the lights.

* * *

Rose woke up that Saturday morning feeling happier than she had in weeks, she had a series of amazing dreams about Luisa. Most of them involved kissing and she was happy that the kissing wouldn’t only happy in her dreams now, she and Luisa had a date tonight and she couldn’t wait.

She shot a glance at her alarm clock, still 13 hours to go before her date. She briefly debated sending Luisa a text, not wanting to come off as clingy, but she decided to say screw it and send it anyway.

“Good morning! How did you sleep?”

She didn’t expect anything back for a while, she had learned that Luisa liked to sleep in, but she felt better for having sent it.

She was feeling restless and decided that going for a run might help. Besides, it would kill some time.

It was still early, the sun hadn’t reached its full power yet and it was nice and cool out, the perfect temperature for a morning run.

* * *

When Rose returned to the building over an hour later, she quite literally ran into the mailman.

‘Morning,’ Rose greeted. ‘Do you have any mail for 3a or 5b?’ she asked, better to kill two birds with one stone.

The man narrowed his eyes. ‘You’re not the occupant of 5b.’

‘No, but she’s my girlfriend,’ Rose smiled, they were technically still only dating but it was the easiest way to describe why she would get Luisa’s mail for her. ‘I have to key to the mail box if you don’t believe me,’ Rose said, unlocking Luisa’s mailbox to prove she was telling the truth.

The mailman huffed and angrily thrust a stack of envelopes at her.

‘Of fucking course,’ he said as he turned around, stalking out of the lobby. Leaving a stunned Rose behind.

At first she was confused why a mailman would react like this to her announcing Luisa was her girlfriend, but then she remembered how this whole thing had started: Luisa had been having trouble getting her mail because she had turned down the mailman for a date. Well, that solved _that_ problem.

She smiled as she walked up the stairs, sorting her letters out from Luisa’s.

She had already knocked on Luisa’s door when she realized she was probably gross and sweaty from her run.

‘Hey, Rose,’ Luisa greeted, wearing some very short shorts and a tank top, her hair adorably sleep mussed.

‘I didn’t wake you, did I?’ Rose asked.

‘No, I was already up. Not as long as you, though,’ Luisa smiled, running her eyes Rose’s running-gear clad form. ‘Had a nice run?’

‘Yeah, it was fine,’ Rose said, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. ‘I ran into out mailman downstairs.’

‘What did he do now?’ Luisa sighed, an amused smile playing around her lips, which Rose of course couldn’t keep her eyes off.

‘I asked him if he had any of our mail. And he realized I wasn’t you and I told him it was okay to give me your mail as we are dating and I have your mailbox key but he got angry and left.’

‘That sounds like him.’ Luisa laughed, holding out her hand for her mail, still smiling happily.

‘What is it with men and being unable to stomach rejection?’ Rose asked as she handed Luisa the envelopes. The mailman had reminded her of Leon.

‘I don’t know,’ Luisa said, her smile turning into a smirk as she encircled Rose’s wrist with her fingers, pulling her closer.

Before Rose understood Luisa’s intentions, their lips were already upon each other’s, Luisa’s left hand coming to rest on her middle. The skin to skin contact sending sparks up her spine.

‘Now it’s a good morning,’ Luisa said as she pulled away, keeping her hand on Rose’s waist.

Rose smiled shyly, surprised that Luisa still wanted to kiss her when her face was red from exertion and she was all sweaty and not wearing any makeup.

‘I should probably get into a shower,’ Rose said, taking a step back.

‘Nah, you look cute,’ Luisa smiled, seemingly meaning it. ‘I’ll see you tonight and thank you for bringing me my mail.’

‘It was just an excuse to come and see you.’ Rose said.

‘I am glad you did,’ Luisa smiled. ‘Now go get your shower! Go!’

‘Right,’ Rose said, quickly leaning in to steal another kiss. ‘See you tonight!’ she said as she made her way down the stairs.

* * *

Rose was just done conditioning her hair when her phone rang, she shut off the shower and answered it.

‘Rose Evans,’ she said, not having seen who was calling.

‘That’s a bit formal,’ Sarah’s voice sounded through the device.

‘Sorry, I was just getting out of the shower, I didn’t see your name,’ Rose said, wrapping a towel around herself.

‘Anyway, I called to ask if you wanted to get coffee today. Or are you spending the day with Luisa?’ Sarah asked, a teasing edge to her voice.

‘We have a date tonight, so I have time to get coffee,’ Rose said, happy that some form of distraction had come up as she surely would have been obsessively texting Luisa for the rest of the day otherwise. And that would be clingy and a little obsessive.

‘Great, so see you in thirty minutes in that coffee shop I like?’

‘You like a lot of coffee shops, Sarah,’ Rose laughed.

‘The one we went to last week,’ Sarah sighed. ‘And don’t you dare use my caffeine addiction against me.’

‘I would never. See you soon.’ Rose said as she hung up the phone.

She was glad Sarah called, she hadn’t had any plans for the day and it would be nice to talk to Sarah for a bit. Even if she most definitely wanted to talk about last night and Luisa, which Rose was also happy to do.

* * *

‘Rose!’ Sarah said as she stood up from her table. ‘Over here.’

Rose smiled and walked over, giving Sarah a quick hug before sitting down.

‘So…’ Sarah started, stirring her coffee. ‘How’s Luisa?’ she said, her eyes sparkling.

‘She’s was great the last time I saw her,’ Rose said, remembering Luisa in her pajamas and how adorable she had looked.

‘And when was that?’

‘This morning, not long before you called actually,’ Rose said, waving over a waitress to order some coffee.

Sarah smiled like she’d just won the lottery, obviously interpreting the facts wrong but Rose wasn’t about to correct her. ‘And you are having another date tonight?’

‘Yeah, we’re going for a walk on the beach.’ Rose smiled, she was really looking forward to her first real date with Luisa. And while she was excited and couldn’t wait for it to start, she did not have the usual first-date nerves. She already knew Luisa liked her, she had said as much, they had already kissed, and they already knew everything about each other. It was like they had started their relationship much further in. And in a way, they had.

It surprised Rose, but now they were _actually_ dating, their fake-dating seemed to work to their advantage. Although it was giving her some problems with how clingy she could be at this point. She felt very comfortable around Luisa, and in their fake-relationship she would no longer have to worry about how many texts she could send without being weird, but now, before their first date, she didn’t to want to seem too desperate.

‘Wait,’ Sarah said, her eyes narrowed in the same way they did when she was in the courtroom and had just heard an inconsistency. ‘Didn’t you go for an evening beach walk on your second date?’

Rose might have been able to play it off as them just liking to go to the beach ,if she had not been taking a sip of her coffee and promptly proceeded to choke on it as soon as she realized her mistake.

After she got her breathing back under control, she decided she could at least try to keep up their scheme a little longer. ‘You can go to the same place for a date twice, Sarah,’ Rose said, hoping her cheeks weren’t as red as they felt.

Sarah didn’t buy it, the lawyers are sharks stereotype definitely applied to Sarah as well, she was just nicer outside of the courtroom, but now she’d smelled blood and she wasn’t going to let it go. ‘Yes, of course you can, but that is not the case here. You’re withholding something from me, your best friend,’ she said, feigning hurt as she placed her hand on her chest as if Rose had just stabbed her in the heart.

Rose closed her eyes and sighed, she knew that sooner or later she’d make a mistake, and even this seemingly tiny, inconsequential one could unravel their whole lie and that that would be bad. But on the other hand, this was Sarah, her friend, and now she and Luisa were actually dating, she didn’t really see the point in keeping it from her any longer. Besides, it would be nice to talk with someone about what was actually going on in her relationship.

‘Okay, I’ll tell you. But you cannot tell anyone else,’ Rose said, hoping she wasn’t making a mistake by telling Sarah the truth.

Sarah nodded, staring at her expectantly.

‘Leon was right. Luisa and I weren’t actually dating,’ Rose said, playing with the sugar packet on the table, not meeting Sarah’s eyes.

‘What!?’ Sarah nearly yelled. ‘What do you mean you weren’t _actually_ dating? You were making-out. In the _hallway_. You practically spent the entire dinner in each other’s lap, I was expecting you to feed each other dessert. You two were almost sickeningly adorable the entire night, _what do you mean that wasn’t real?_ ’

‘Well, it wasn’t, we really were faking a relationship,’ Rose explained. ‘Leon wouldn’t stop hitting on me, and one morning he ran into me in the lobby of our building just as Luisa came down the stairs. I had told Luisa about him, so she decided that the best way to get him to back off was to pretend to be my girlfriend. So we started faking a relationship.’

Sarah’s mouth was hanging open at this point. ‘Okay, let’s say I understand _why_ you two are faking a relationship. That doesn’t explain all the yearning looks and doe-y eyes.’

‘That is because I actually liked Luisa, I had real feelings for her but I thought she didn’t feel the same way, I thought that she was straight.’

‘Honey, there was nothing straight about the way you two were kissing last night,’ Sarah said, reaching across the table to cover Rose’s hand with her own.

‘Yeah, I was starting to realize that. Between what had happened that day, with the kisses and touches and what you and Kate said about her looking at me. I started to realize I had been misinterpreting everything.’

‘You think?’ Sarah said.

‘So after we, uhm, _kissed_ , last night, I realized that it might not be as one sided as I thought it was. So I decided we should talk. And is it turned out, Luisa had made exactly the same wrong interpretations as I did, so we kissed in the lobby of our building, in front of the mail boxes,’ Rose said, a smile turning the corners of her lips up as she remembered the kiss vividly.

Sarah’s smile was so wide Rose was worried it was going to split her face in two. ‘So, if I understand correctly. You two decided to fake a relationship to get Leon off your back, but you actually liked each other, you just didn’t know you liked each other, until _yesterday_?’

‘Basically. So we are having our _real_ first date tonight,’ Rose said.

‘I cannot believe that what I was seeing last night was fake. That was the most passionate kiss I have seen in a while.’

‘You should have seen our kiss later that evening, when we both realized the other liked us back. It was even better,’ Rose grinned.

Sarah laughed. ‘So, you are taking her to the beach tonight?’

‘Actually, she is taking me, we are going to make our hypothetical dates, real dates. And I think the real thing might even be better than everything we came up with,' Rose smiled softly.

‘You look really happy about this,’ Sarah said.

‘I really am,’ Rose said. ‘I really like her, that part wasn’t a lie.’

‘No, that much is clear. I am really happy that she likes you back. Just one question. How long would you have kept up this charade? I and why didn’t you tell me? I can be trusted!’

‘I trust you, it is just, the more people know the harder it becomes to contain it. So I probably would have “dated” Luisa for another month, then we could have broken up without arousing suspicion. And then I guess I would have moved on, dated someone else.’

‘That would have sucked,’ Sarah said sympathetically. ‘I know you are only going on your first date tonight, but you really are a great couple. You were so convincing, Kate and I didn’t even notice. It is obvious you like each other.’

‘Yeah, Luisa already said we have the worst gaydars ever,’ Rose laughed.

‘So you are both really gay? Like before you met the other? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, it is an incredible nosy question. Sorry.’

‘No, it’s okay. I’m a lesbian, have known that since I was a teenager. Luisa is a lesbian, too. So yeah, we really do have the worst gaydars ever,’ Rose laughed. ‘A gaydar is more wishful thinking anyway. You can never really tell.’

‘Well, I think you should have realized that she was not completely straight as soon as she shoved her tongue down your throat,’ Sarah said.

Rose groaned. ‘You are never going to let this go, are you?’

‘You publically made out in front of me and Leon, for more than a full minute. I cannot let that go even if I tried.’

‘Just don’t tell Leon, okay? Actually don’t tell anyone. It is better if we just stick to our original story.’

‘My lips are sealed,’ Sarah said, mimicking throwing away the key. ‘Now tell me about tonight.'

Rose laughed, it felt good that someone knew the truth, that she could talk about her actual feelings with someone. She knew Sarah would keep it a secret and that Leon would never find out from her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to say, the response on the previous chapter was absolutely amazing and it made me so happy. Seriously, all your comments made my day. Thank you so much!
> 
> I have a question for you, the next chapter is obviously going to be their first date, and I want to know if you are at all opposed to them having sex on the first date. So if you could drop a yes or a no in the comments that would be a great help in helping me decide the course of this story!
> 
> Thank you!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we are, the moment you've all been waiting for: their first real date.
> 
> After your overwhelming response on the last chapter (seriously a HUGE thank you to everyone who commented, it meant so so much to me) I am actually on time today! Who would have thought that was possible?
> 
> Anyway, this chapter may or may not be rated M as I do not want to give away in what direction I went. But after your reactions from last week (and just in general) I don't think any of you object against surprise sex. Which may or may not be in this chapter. Who knows? 
> 
> Anyway, enjoy the ultimate fluff fest that is their first date!

Rose whistled happily as she walked through the building’s front door later that afternoon. Coffee with Sarah had turned into lunch with Sarah as she just couldn’t stop talking about Luisa and how amazing she was and how happy their relationship made her.

Sarah had listened attentively, smiling the whole time as Rose talked and talked and talked. Rose hadn’t talked this much about her feelings in years. She never really had anyone willing to listen, and she was very grateful Sarah was willing to put up with her Luisa obsession.

So not only had she found an amazing girlfriend (almost girlfriend, they still had to go on a real date) but she had also got a new friend. It seemed her move to Miami had been a good one, she was enjoying every second of it.

She was still whistling happily when someone wrapped their arms around her middle from behind. She tensed for a second before realizing that there was only one person who would do that and she immediately melted into the embrace.

‘Fancy meeting you here,’ Luisa said, softly kissing the back of Rose’s neck.

Rose let out a shuddering breath, her neck had always been sensitive and Luisa kissing her there sent shivers down her spine.

She turned around in Luisa’s arms, trying not to let her see how much that one small kiss had affected her.

Luisa wrapped her arms around Rose’s neck and pulled her down to her level for a proper kiss.

Rose still couldn’t believe she actually got to kiss Luisa all the time now. After a month of pining after her beautiful upstairs neighbor, today was the day they would finally go on a date and while Rose was really looking forward to that, she was happy she didn’t have to wait six more hours before she could kiss Luisa again.

‘Hey.’ Rose smiled as she pulled away to catch her breath, never in her life had she needed to catch her breath after a simple kiss hello, but every kiss with Luisa was intense and lasted at least a minute. It was wonderful.

‘Hey,’ Luisa smiled back, her hands lingering on Rose’s shoulders. ‘I just came downstairs to tell you I am looking forward to our date tonight.’

‘Me too,’ Rose said, her thumbs rubbing circles on Luisa’s sides as they were still holding each other. ‘Wait, how did you know I was downstairs?’

‘Well, I knocked on your door first but you didn’t answer, and then I heard someone whistle. You always whistle the same tune,’ Luisa said, and it made Rose’s heart beat a little faster that Luisa had noticed that about her.

‘So you knocked on my door just to tell me you were looking forward to our date?’ Rose grinned.

‘Yes,’ Luisa said, trying to keep a straight face but failing miserably.

Rose raised an eyebrow as she stared challengingly at Luisa.

‘I might also have come by to do this,’ Luisa said softly, leaning in for another kiss.

Rose smiled into the kiss, gladly opening her mouth when Luisa’s tongue ran over her lips. It wasn’t long before they were once again making out in public.

Rose was blushing as they broke the kiss, she normally wasn’t one for public displays of affection, but with Luisa it just happened. And it kept happening and she found she didn’t really care. It just made her feel giddy, like she was a teenager stealing kisses at a school dance.

‘So you weren’t going out?’ Rose asked.

‘No, just coming down here to kiss you,’ Luisa grinned, linking her hand with Rose’s.

‘I appreciate it,’ Rose smiled, starting up the stairs.

‘So did you go out for lunch?’ Luisa asked.

‘I hadn’t planned it,’ Rose explained, their arms swaying slightly between them as they slowly climbed the stairs. ‘But Sarah called this morning if I wanted to have coffee and we talked for so long that all of the sudden it was time for lunch.’

‘What did you two talk about?’ Luisa said, the smile on her face telling Rose she knew perfectly well what they had talked about.

‘The weather, you, gas prices, you again, the economy and you,’ Rose grinned, before suddenly remembering something quite important that they had also talked about. ‘Sarah knows…’ she said.

‘Sarah knows what?’ Luisa said, her eyebrows adorably furrowed together as she wasn’t following Rose’s train of thought.

‘About our fake-relationship,’ Rose explained.

‘Oh, well, it is no longer a fake-relationship,’ Luisa smiled brightly, squeezing Rose’s hand.

‘She knows about that too. She caught me in a lie and I couldn’t cover it up.’

‘You’re a lawyer, isn’t that your job?’ Luisa asked, smiling teasingly.

‘Yes, but I happened to be drinking my coffee when she called me on it, and I sort of choked on it,’ Rose said softly, a little embarrassed by her own behavior earlier that day.

Luisa burst out laughing, and Rose couldn’t help but join in, Luisa’s laugh was infectious.

‘It was only a matter of time before someone found out,’ Luisa shrugged as they passed Rose’s apartment and continued up the stairs to the fourth floor. ‘And I like Sarah, she’s fun.’

‘I am just glad it is her and not Leon,’ Rose said.

‘I hate that dude. What is his problem anyway? Does he seriously think he is god’s gift to lesbians or what?’

Rose couldn’t help but laugh at Luisa’s adorably hateful expression. And she suddenly felt the desperate need to kiss her bubble up again. Luisa was a step higher than she was, so this time she had to pull Luisa down to her height instead of the other way around.

Luisa hadn’t been expecting the kiss as she had been in the middle of her rant against Leon and just men in general, but with Rose’s lips on hers it took her about 0.1 seconds to forget about that and to respond to the kiss.

Soon, a lot more tongue was involved than Rose had planned for, and her hands had drifted down to Luisa’s ass, while Luisa’s hands were brushing against the sides of her breasts lightly.

Rose was a little lightheaded when they broke the kiss, and it was not just from the lack of air.

 ‘Do you want to come in?’ Luisa husked, bringing her mouth back to Rose’s neck, making her shiver.

Rose bit her lip as she thought it over. On the one hand, she wanted nothing more than to continue this and see where it went, but on the other, they had a date tonight and if she went inside now, she wondered if they would leave the apartment for the rest of the evening, and she really wanted to have a proper first date.

‘Maybe later,’ Rose smiled. ‘We have a date to prepare for. And if I go inside now, I doubt we are actually going to leave for it.’

Luisa pouted but nodded eventually. ‘You’re probably right,’ Luisa shrugged, her lips curling back into a grin. ‘Personally, I am not opposed to sex on the first date, but we should actually have one first, don’t you think?’ Luisa asked silkily, caressing the inside of Rose’s wrist lightly.

Rose her mouth went dry and she had trouble forming words as Luisa kept looking at her with those intense brown eyes and sly grin.

Eventually Rose just blushed and nodded, unable to find words.

‘I’ll see you tonight then. Don’t forget to wear a bikini,’ Luisa smiled, brushing their lips together once again before climbing the remaining steps and opening the door to her apartment, giving Rose one last wink before disappearing from view.

Rose stood frozen on the staircase for a couple of minutes, trying to get rid of the images Luisa’s actions had firmly lodged in her brain.

She bit her lip and shook her head to snap out of it, slowly making her way back to her own floor, she had a date to prepare for. Only five and a half more hours to go.

Rose spent those five and half hours picking out an outfit, showering, changing her outfit, doing her hair, changing her outfit again, doing her make-up and groaning in frustration as she did not have anything to wear for her first date with Luisa.

She picked up her phone and typed out a text to Sarah.

“I have nothing to wear. Help.”

Not ten seconds later her phone buzzed with Sarah’s reply. “Open the door wearing nothing and let Luisa pick your outfit.” A winky-face was attached to the end of that sentence.

“Funny, but I am serious. I have nothing to wear.”

“You are going to the beach, right?”

“Yes.”

“So nothing too formal. Do you have a summer dress?”

“Yes, plenty.”

“Send pictures. I’ll help you choose.”

Rose smiled, it had been so long since she had a friend help her prepare for a date. It felt a bit like she was back in high school.

After a ridiculous amount of texts, Rose and Sarah settled on a pair of shorts and a white top. Because, as Sarah had so eloquently put it, she had killer legs and needed to show them off to their maximum capacity and all her dresses were too long according to her.

Rose thought it too casual, but Sarah managed to convince her that, as Luisa had never seen her in anything casual, she would love it.

“Do you have a flannel?” Sarah asked and Rose laughed as she typed her reply.

“I am a lesbian. Of course I have flannels.”

“I didn’t want to stereotype you. And literally all the clothes you have showed me are work appropriate, so I didn’t know if you _did_ casual clothing or if you just wear slack and button downs in your spare time as well.”

“Why would I need one?” Rose asked.

“Because it gets cold on the beach in the evening, especially if it is windy, and I do not want you to freeze your butt off.”

“Yes, mom,” Rose replied teasingly. “Do you think this is an appropriate first date outfit?”

“It’s perfect. Luisa is going to love it. You look hot. You can repay me for my fashion advice by sending me all the details tomorrow morning.” Another winky-face.

“Bye Sarah.” Rose smiled as she checked the time, only two more hours to go.

She spent some of it making dinner and the rest zapping through the channels on her TV. Nothing seemed interesting and her mind kept wandering back to that afternoon and Luisa’s hands and lips on her.

Rose had woken up that morning not nervous for their date at all, just excited and happy. But now it was drawing closer she started to get nervous. They had already talked about so many things. What was there left to discuss? What if it was boring? What if it stayed at one date? What if…

Rose stopped herself right then. She was overthinking this and making it needlessly complicated. Luisa liked her, she liked Luisa, they had talked about a lot of things already but never once had there been an awkward silence between them. It would be fine. That part of her date at least. She was not quite able to talk herself out of being nervous for what might happen after their date.

Luisa was obviously up for sex on the first date, and she wasn’t opposed either. She liked sex, sex was great, it was just that a first time with someone could be awkward and she desperately didn’t want it to be awkward between them. She had been ready that afternoon, by the more she thought about it, the more she started to worry.

She was shaken out of her thoughts by a knock on her door. She shot a look at the clock on her wall and noticed that it was indeed 8 PM already.

Rose got up, took a deep breath, smoothed the imaginary wrinkles out of her shirt and opened the door.

It seemed Sarah had been right. Luisa took her time running her eyes up her legs before meeting Rose her eyes.

‘You look amazing,’ Luisa said, a soft smile pulling at the corners of her mouth.

‘You’re beautiful,’ Rose said, slightly in awe that this was real, that she was actually going on a date with her.

Luisa was wearing a billowy pink summer dress that flared around her hips and left a good part of her legs exposed. It was the perfect beach wear and it looked lovely on her.

‘Thank you,’ Luisa said, smiling even wider. ‘I got you this,’ she said, handing Rose a single red rose.

Rose laughed. ‘Thank you, that’s very original,’ she said as she accepted the flower from Luisa. ‘Come in, I’ll just put this in a vase and then we can go.’

Luisa nodded, following Rose into her apartment, waiting by the door as Rose put the single flower in a vase and placed it in the middle of her dinner table. ‘It’s beautiful, thank you,’ she smiled as she softly kissed Luisa.

Luisa smiled at her, linking their hands together. ‘You ready to go?’

‘Yes,’ Rose nodded. ‘More than ready.’

‘Great, because I don’t think I can wait any longer for our date to actually start,’ Luisa grinned, swinging their arms between them as they walked down the stairs together.

‘So, how come you have been in Miami for a month and have never been to the beach?’ Luisa asked after she had given the driver directions.

‘I work most of the time, and it is no fun to go alone,’ Rose said squeezing Luisa’s hand softly.

‘Well, then it will be my pleasure to show you around the best beach Miami has to offer.’

‘You’re going to give me a tour of the beach?’ Rose smiled.

‘Oh yes, there is lots to see. Sand for example, there’s lots of that. And water. Waves are nice too,’ Luisa grinned.

‘That does sound nice.’ Rose smiled, everything sounded nice.

* * *

Rose could smell the salt in the air as she got out of the cab, it had been a while since she had been to the beach. She couldn’t actually remember the last time she had been, but she had always liked the beach, even if she always did have to be very careful to avoid sunburns with her light skin. But that wouldn’t be a problem tonight, the sun was already setting.

‘So, what do you think?’ Luisa asked as she stood next to her, their shoulders brushing together.

‘It’s beautiful,’ Rose smiled, watching the palm trees sway slightly in the breeze and the waves crash softly on the beach. The setting sun was dousing everything in its soft golden light and it made the view in front of her look like a postcard. It was a pretty great first date location.

‘Come on. Let’s walk,’ Luisa said, slipping out of her shoes and jumping onto the sand.

Rose followed her lead, holding her shoes in one hand as she intertwined her other with Luisa’s as they walked towards the surf.

The sand was still pleasantly warm from the sun and the feeling of it underneath her bare feet was almost as nice as the feeling of Luisa’s hand in her own. Almost.

There were still some people on the beach, but it wasn’t nearly as busy as it was during the day, when you had to navigate your way between towels and beach umbrellas to even get a look at the ocean. Now, there were mostly couples like the two of them walking across the beach or sitting down to watch the waves, the sun setting over the city behind them.

‘I always loved the beach,’ Luisa said. ‘Especially when it is quiet like this and you can really hear the waves.’

‘I love beaches, but they don’t necessarily love me back.’ Rose smiled as Luisa looked at her in confusion. ‘I burn easily and even if I don’t I get all freckly.’

‘Your freckles are cute. I like them,’ Luisa said, tracing some of them on her bicep.

Rose couldn’t help but lean over and kiss Luisa on the cheek. ‘Then I guess we can go to the beach more often.’

‘Already planning a second date?’ Luisa said.

‘Oh, I already know what we’re doing for our second date,’ Rose said conspiratorially. ‘But let’s focus on this one first.’

‘Rose, tell me,’ Luisa said, she stopped walking and flashed Rose her best puppy eyes.

‘Well,’ Rose said, she was powerless against the puppy eyes. ‘I remember promising I would cook for you, so I plan to make good on that at some point.’

‘I remember that.’ Luisa smiled, stepping into Rose’s space, resting her hands on Rose’s hips. ‘I agree to that second date,’ she whispered, her lips just inches away from Rose’s.

‘We should probably see how our first date goes before you agree to a second one,’ Rose said.

‘I am pretty confident my date will agree to a second,’ Luisa said as she brushed their lips softly against each other.

‘I think you might be right,’ Rose said before fully pressing their lips together into a real kiss.

They continued to walk across the beach, their feet in the surf and their hands linked, stopping occasionally to kiss.

They talked very little but the silences weren’t awkward in the least. It was enough to just be close together. Rose had never felt this comfortable with any other person before, especially on a first date.

A big wave rolled in, the water suddenly reaching their knees instead of their ankles. Luisa yelped and clung to Rose’s arm.

‘I thought you liked the waves?’ Rose grinned.

‘I was just not expecting it. That’s all,’ Luisa pouted, smiling mischievously before kicking some water in Rose’s direction.

‘Hey!’ Rose laughed. ‘I am still wearing clothes!’

‘Yes, why are you?’ Luisa grinned, splashing more water her way. ‘The dress code was a bikini.’

‘I am wearing one!’ Rose yelled as she ran away from Luisa and onto the beach, taking of her shirt and shorts as Luisa watched from the surf. ‘See?’ she smiled, advancing menacingly towards Luisa, who squealed and ran onto the beach as well, getting rid of her dress before tackling Rose into the waves.

But Rose had been expecting that so she pulled Luisa under with her.

They broke the surface spluttering a few seconds later. Both of them smiling widely. The water was warm and it was nice to watch the sun set over the city from the waves.

Rose pulled Luisa closer and kisses her softly, Luisa responding enthusiastically.

After splashing in the ocean for a little longer, Luisa suggest showering off so they could dry up in the last of the sunlight.

So that’s what they did.

Rose had a hard time keeping her eyes off Luisa as she walked out of the water in front of her. And judging from Luisa’s confident grin she knew exactly what kind of effect she was having on her.

After they had somewhat dried and Rose was putting her shirt back on, Luisa suggest they go for ice cream. Which Rose happily agreed to.

* * *

‘Hey!’ Rose laughed as Luisa stole a bite of her ice cream. ‘You have your own. Stay away from mine.’

‘I just wanted a taste,’ Luisa smiled, licking her lips. ‘It’s good. But I still like my cherry chocolate mixture better,’ she said, raising the spoon to her mouth.

Rose grinned as she caught Luisa’s wrist and stole the spoonful of ice cream instead, only she slightly misjudged Luisa’s strength and most of it ended up on her chin instead of in her mouth.

Luisa was silent for a minute before bursting out laughing. ‘Karma is a bitch,’ Luisa laughed.

‘I was just trying to even the score,’ Rose pouted, raising her hand to wipe the excess ice cream away.

‘Here, let me,’ Luisa said, cradling Rose’s jaw and licking the ice cream off her chin. ‘It tastes even better on you,’ she said, grinning slyly as she licked her lips.

Rose knew her mouth was hanging open slightly, but she could do nothing about that right now. She was too perplexed and a little turned on by Luisa’s actions.

Luisa’s smile kept getting wider as she saw the far off look in Rose’s eyes and knew exactly what she was thinking.

Rose started to blush as she finally snapped out of thoughts, looking down at the ground to gather her thoughts.

‘You’re cute when you blush,’ Luisa said, bumping her shoulder against Rose’s. ‘Let’s sit,’ she said, pulling Rose down onto the sand with her.

‘Are you cold?’ Rose asked as she felt Luisa’s cool skin brush against her own.

‘A little,’ Luisa smiled. ‘But it is fine.’

‘Here, take this,’ Rose said, untying her plaid blouse from her middle and handing it to Luisa. She owed Sarah a very large cup of coffee.

Luisa smiled as she put it on, it was a little big on her and the red of the blouse didn’t really go with the pink of her dress but to Rose she looked adorable.

They sat side by side for a while, eating their ice cream and watching the waves crash onto the beach.

‘You’re still shivering,’ Rose said as she noticed Luisa had wrapped her arms tightly around herself.

‘It’s the ice cream and the fact that my bikini and hair are still a little wet form our swim. I just get cold easily. It is okay, really.’

‘Come on,’ she said, patting the ground between her legs.

Luisa smiled and moved over, resting her back against Rose’s front.

Rose wrapped her arms around Luisa’s middle, resting her head on her shoulder. Luisa leant further back against her covering Rose’s arms with her own.

‘How come you aren’t cold?’ she asked.

‘I run hot,’ Rose smiled.

‘You _are_ hot,’ Luisa husked, turning her head so she could brush her lips against Rose neck, making goosebumps break out across Rose’s skin as well, just not from the cold.

They sat cuddled together on the beach a little longer, Luisa repeatedly kissing her neck and shoulders. And even if the sun had completely set behind them, Rose still wasn’t cold.

‘Let’s get out of here,’ Luisa murmured softly against her neck.

Rose nodded, her throat dry; there was no mistaking the inflections in Luisa’s voice and it was doing things to her.

Luisa got up and offered Rose her hands, pulling her off the ground and into a soft kiss.

‘This was a great date, thank you,’ Rose smiled as she pulled away from the kiss.

‘It isn’t over yet,’ Luisa smiled, pulling Rose back towards the boulevard so they could hail a cab. ‘But yeah, best date I ever went on.’

Rose smiled, she felt like that too. She brushed the sand of her back, knowing fully well that she was going to find sand everywhere in her apartment for the next week regardless. It was so worth it though.

* * *

After they had gotten into a cab and Luisa had given the cabbie their address, she practically sat down in Rose’s lap, fusing their mouths together in a hungry and desperate kiss.

It seemed they had developed a thing for public make-outs in their very short relationship and Rose was totally fine with it.

Some of Rose’s nerves about what they were about to do returned as the stumbled through the front door into the lobby, Luisa’s hand rubbing soft circles on her hip underneath her shirt.

‘Do you want to come up for coffee?’ Luisa grinned, kissing the underside of Rose’s jaw.

Rose swallowed and nodded. She wanted this, she wanted Luisa. But the closer they came to Luisa’s apartment, the more nervous she became. And Luisa noticed.

She didn’t know _why_ , she really wanted this, but some tiny little voice in the back of her head was screaming dozens of reasons at her why they should not do this. And she didn’t want to listen, she knew the voice was wrong but it still made her hesitate.

‘We don’t have to do this,’ Luisa said, smiling warmly at Rose as she took a step back. They had reached the fifth floor and had been kissing in front of Luisa’s door but Rose had been so stuck in her own head she hadn’t responded as enthusiastically as before. ‘It’s okay if you aren’t ready. I will wait until you are,’ Luisa said, kissing Rose softly before taking out her keys and unlocking her door.

‘I had a great time, Rose. Goodnight,’ Luisa smiled, the look in her eyes warm and caring as she shut the door.

And Rose was suddenly reminded that this was _Luisa_. And that there was no reason to be nervous, there never had been. Once again she was overthinking stuff and making things so much more complicated than they had to be. Screw doubt. She liked Luisa, she was actually falling for her, and she knew Luisa felt the same. So why was she hesitating?

A smile broke across her face as she knocked on Luisa’s door. She wanted this, she _was_ ready.

‘Hi, did you forget-’ Luisa didn’t get to finish that sentence as Rose pressed their lips together in a bruising kiss.

Rose could feel Luisa smile into the kiss, their tongues passionately stroking together as Luisa pulled her inside by the hem of her shirt.

‘Are you sure about this?’ she asked breathlessly as she pressed Rose back against the now closed door.

‘I am very sure about this,’ Rose smiled, pushing her blouse off Luisa’s shoulders.

Luisa smiled brightly as she kissed Rose again just as passionately as before.

They kept kissing as they frantically stripped their clothes of each other and stumbled towards the bedroom. Both of them trying to get as much skin got skin contact as soon as possible.

The mood changed drastically when the backs of Rose’s knees hit the edge of Luisa’s bed.

Luisa pulled away from the kiss, staring wide eyed at Rose, slowly reaching around Rose to undo the strings that kept her bikini up.

‘Can I?’ Luisa asked, before pulling on the strings. ‘I want to see you,’ she said softly.

Rose nodded, smiling softly at Luisa to show her she was okay with it.

Luisa very carefully untied the bow on Rose’s back before moving to the one at the back of her neck, the fabric finally falling away.

‘You’re beautiful,’ Luisa said reverently, bringing her hands up to gently palm Rose’s breasts. All the desperate need from before was gone, replaced by something much more calm and sweet.

Rose gasped as Luisa softly rolled her nipples between her fingers. She wanted to protest as Luisa pulled her hands away, but it had seemed Luisa had only stopped to get rid of her own bikini top.

Rose sat down on the edge of the bed, getting rid of her final piece of clothing as Luisa did the same.

She crawled backwards onto the bed as Luisa covered her body with her own until they were touching from head to toe.

‘I think I might be dreaming,’ Rose admitted, her hands coming up to rest on Luisa’s sides. Stroking the naked skin softly.

‘I feel the same way,’ Luisa whispered, leaning in for a kiss. ‘But it’s real.’

As they kissed, their hands roamed each other’s bodies, mapping every inch of newly revealed skin. Cataloguing every reaction their touches caused, learning what the other liked and what they didn’t like. Just exploring touches and kisses.

‘What do you want?’ Luisa husked as she lifted her head so she could look Rose in the eyes.

‘You, just you,’ Rose sighed, it wasn’t very descriptive but it was the truth.

‘Okay,’ Luisa smiled softly, kissing a trail down to Rose’s breasts, placing light kisses around her nipple before taking it into her mouth, running her tongue around the light pink bud.

Rose arched her back a bit, Luisa’s mouth on her felt so good and she wanted, no needed, more.

She very quickly got lost in her own pleasure as Luisa kissed and sucked and licked at her breasts, her hands fisted in the sheets beneath her.

Luisa’s hand eventually drifted down her stomach, drawing random circles and swirls on her heated skin, making her muscles jump underneath Luisa’s skilled touch.

Luisa halted at the apex of her thighs, just above where Rose desperately needed her. Luisa lifted her head up, searching Rose’s eyes for any sign of discomfort, but she found none.

Luisa smiled and pushed their mouths together as her hand finally dipped down between Rose’s legs.

Rose moaned into the kiss as Luisa lazily circled her clit.

‘Is this okay?’ Luisa asked, peppering little kisses all over Rose’s face.

‘More than,’ Rose moaned, stroking Luisa’s back, sometimes digging her nails in softly when Luisa did something particularly nice.

‘You’re so beautiful,’ Luisa whispered into her ear. ‘So very beautiful.’

Rose had been close already, but those awed whispers from Luisa were enough to push her over.

A white hot fire coursed through her body, making her see stars. It had been a while since she had an orgasm this powerful. And that while it was just their first time together.

‘You’re amazing,’ Luisa said, hovering above Rose, smiling softly at her.

‘No, you are,’ Rose said, her voice hoarse and throaty.

Luisa smiled at her as she leant in for another kiss.

Rose slowly recovered from her orgasm as they sloppily made out. As soon as she got the full control of her arms again, she trailed her hands from Luisa’s back, brushing against the sides of her breasts, making her gasp slightly, and then even lower.

Luisa’s low moan was all the permission she needed to continue and she slowly entered Luisa with two fingers.

‘Fuck, Rose,’ Luisa moaned, her eyes falling closed.

Rose reveled in all Luisa’s little moans and gasps, in the way her hips rolled back against her hand, in the way her long hair tickled her chest, committing all of it to memory.

Luisa loved talking and it seemed she also enjoyed to talk during sex. Telling Rose to go faster or slower, to touch her harder, to kiss her. But by far her favorite words that crossed Luisa’s lips that night were the stuttered “please” and “so close”.

Somehow Luisa was even more beautiful during orgasm, and Rose had thought that to be absolutely impossible.

But when Luisa came with a soundless scream, and her elbows buckled underneath her, causing her to fall heavily on top of Rose, she couldn’t help but smile, softly stroking Luisa’s hair.

‘I’m sorry,’ Luisa laughed as she had recovered a bit. ‘For crushing you.’

‘That’s okay, you can make it up to me,’ Rose grinned, flipping them over so she was now on top.

‘Kiss me,’ Luisa demanded with a smirk, so Rose did.

* * *

Hours later, when they were both completely exhausted and barely awake, Luisa curled her body around Rose’s.

‘Best first date ever,’ she whispered, kissing Rose’s shoulder softly.

And Rose couldn’t agree more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, of course I made them have sex on the first date. You know me!
> 
> I hoped you liked it, and consider leaving a comment, they make my day and really motivate me to write. I love hearing what you thought.
> 
> Next week we'll have the morning after, and probably some other things I haven't thought of yet! See you then!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, two weeks late, as usual. But life was busy and I was stuck. But you all really deserved this for all your sweet comments and kudos, so I worked for the last three hours straight (ha!) to finish it! I hope you like it!
> 
> Enjoy!

Rose woke up that morning feeling happier than she had ever felt. Last night seemed like a dream; the date and especially what happened afterwards were too good to be true. But she could smell Luisa’s shampoo on her pillow and feel her soft and steady breath on the back of her neck so it had to be true.

She smiled and shifted a bit in Luisa’s arms, certain Luisa couldn’t be comfortable in this position.

‘Don’t go,’ Luisa murmured sleepily, wrapping her arms a little tighter around Rose and nuzzling her shoulder softly.

‘I wasn’t going anywhere,’ Rose whispered back, kissing Luisa’s wrist. ‘Just making sure you were comfortable,’ she said as she turned around the face Luisa.

‘I am very comfortable,’ Luisa whispered without opening her eyes, burying her face in the crook of Rose’s neck.

‘So your hand isn’t asleep?’ Rose smiled, pulling Luisa’s hand out from underneath her shoulder and tangling their fingers together.

‘My whole body is asleep,’ Luisa smiled softly, staring to grimace as the pins and needles in her hand set in. ‘But maybe my hand is a little more asleep than the rest of it.’

Rose laughed and began to softly massage the palm of Luisa’s hand, trying to get the blood flowing again. When Luisa flexed her fingers and smiled, proving that all the pins and needles were gone now, Rose brought their intertwined hands to her lips so she could kiss Luisa’s palm, moving down to her wrist and pressing a kiss there too. She continued this trail of kisses up Luisa’s arm until she reached the underside of her jaw.

‘Please tell me you do not have anywhere to be today,’ Luisa murmured as Rose continued to press kisses all over Luisa’s throat.

‘I don’t,’ Rose hummed against Luisa’s skin. ‘Why do you ask?’ she said innocently, her lips hovering over Luisa’s.

‘Because I want to stay in bed with you all day, just like this,’ Luisa breathed, brushing their lips together.

‘I think that can be arranged,’ Rose said, turning onto her back so Luisa’s head was now resting on her shoulder.

Luisa sighed happily and threw one leg over Rose’s hips, keeping her pinned to the mattress.

Rose kissed the top of Luisa’s head and inhaled the sweet smell of her shampoo, still tinged with just a bit of salt from their swim yesterday.

She stroked Luisa’s back as her breathing slowly evened out. She had no idea what time it was, but it was obviously too early for Luisa to do anything but sleep.

Rose smiled to herself, she didn’t know how their one day relationship could feel so comfortable and familiar already, but it did. There was no pressure to do anything. She didn’t feel the pressure to go home, she didn’t feel like she was overstaying her welcome, she didn’t feel the need to put something on or fix her hair and makeup which was surely a mess after last night’s swim and the following physical activities. She just wanted to stay in bed with Luisa like this forever.

Before she knew it, she was back asleep too, dreaming about Luisa, but her dreams weren’t nearly as good as the real woman she held in her arms as they slept.

* * *

Rose’s awaking wasn’t as peaceful the second time around. Instead of the sun shining in her face, it was her phone’s ringtone coming from somewhere within the room that woke her.

Luisa groaned and tightened her grip on Rose when she tried to move out from underneath her to answer the phone.

‘Let voicemail get that,’ she urged softly. Making a very strong argument for her case by kissing Rose’s neck.

Rose was very tempted to do just that, but it might be important. On the other hand, it might also be Sarah, but either way, she couldn’t just let it ring, it wasn’t in her nature.

She got out of Luisa’s embrace and started searching for her shorts on clothes-strewn floor of Luisa’s bedroom.

‘Near the door,’ Luisa sighed before burying her face in a pillow; she really wasn’t a morning person.

‘Thank you,’ Rose smiled as she fetched her phone from the pocket, her smile immediately fading and wishing she had listened to Luisa and just stayed in bed as she saw the name flashing on her screen. She hesitated for a second before pressing the ‘decline call’ button. She really didn’t want to deal with her right now, not this morning.

‘Who was it?’ Luisa asked as Rose climbed back into bed with her, putting her phone face down on the nightstand.

‘Unknown number,’ Rose lied.

‘So not important enough to answer?’ Luisa said, reaching out to stroke the furrow between Rose’s eyebrows with a little concern.

Rose knew Luisa knew she was lying, but she really did not want to talk about it, so she just leaned in for a kiss. ‘Let’s follow your plan and stay in bed all day.’

‘Okay,’ Luisa sighed happily, picking up on Rose’s reluctance to talk and moving past it. She smiled and rolled them over so she was now hovering above Rose. Just as she leaned in for a kiss, her stomach growled.

Rose laughed as Luisa groaned and rested her head on her shoulder.

‘Any chance you can just ignore that?’ Luisa asked, kissing Rose’s collarbone.

‘No, we should eat something,’ Rose smiled, stroking Luisa’s sides.

‘Betrayed by my own body,’ Luisa said, rolling off Rose with a sigh.

‘Breakfast in bed?’ Rose asked, sitting up, raising her arms above her head and arching her back to get rid of the kinks.

‘You don’t have to do that. It’s my house, I should make you breakfast in bed,’ Luisa said, her hand rubbing small circles on the small of Rose’s back as she stretched.

‘I want to,’ Rose said, pressing her lips against Luisa’s again before swinging her legs over the side of the bed. ‘I’m the one that woke you up so early after all.’ She smiled, retrieving her shorts and tank top, ignoring Luisa’s pout as she put them on. Cooking naked wasn’t the best idea. ‘Go sleep a little longer, I’ll be right back with breakfast and then we can continue spending the day in bed.’

‘You’re too nice,’ Luisa said, sitting up and running a hand through her adorably sleep mussed hair.

‘I’ll be back soon, okay?’ Rose said, already feeling the tension her unanswered phone call her brought fade away when Luisa smiled sweetly up at her.

* * *

‘Luisa, how do you like your eggs?’ Rose yelled towards the open bedroom door. She had found most of Luisa’s cooking utensils and ingredients and was now holding two eggs in her hand while trying to decide if she should boil or fry them.

‘Scrambled,’ Luisa said, walking out of the bedroom wearing only Rose’s plaid shirt with just a few buttons strategically done up.

Rose couldn’t do anything more than just stare as Luisa walked towards her and jumped up onto the counter, wrapping her legs around Rose’s middle and pulling her closer.

‘You look good in my shirt,’ Rose grinned, caressing Luisa’s sides through the plaid blouse.

‘You have great taste in clothing,’ Luisa grinned, gingerly taking the eggs from Rose’s hand and putting them in a bowl on the counter before she pulled Rose in for a kiss.

‘I like your hair like this,’ Luisa said after she pulled away to catch her breath, tucking a stray red curl behind Rose’s ear.

Rose smiled, she had pulled it back into a ponytail because it was all frizzy and out of control and generally a mess. ‘You’re just trying to get me back into bed,’ Rose smirked, stepping away from Luisa to go make her scrambled eggs.

‘Yes, I am,’ Luisa grinned, catching Rose by the waistband of her shorts and pulling her back in for another kiss.

‘Luisa…’ Rose said as she pulled away a bit. ‘If I drop the eggs it will only take longer for us to get back into bed.’

‘Fine...’ Luisa pouted, swinging her legs from the counter, only making the blouse ride up higher on her thighs.

Rose bit her lips before she put the eggs down again and stepped closer to Luisa to do up a few more buttons.

‘It’s distracting,’ Rose shrugged as she turned away. Finally cracking the eggs above a bowl and beating them together to make them light and fluffy.

‘That was sort of the point,’ Luisa smirked, purposefully undoing the buttons again and leaning back.

Rose rolled her eyes and busied herself with the scrambled eggs, trying not to be distracted by all the barely covered skin right next to her.

Luisa managed to behave relatively well after that. Even helping to make orange juice and toast and only occasionally brushing her breasts against Rose as she flitted around the kitchen.

‘Thank you. That looks amazing,’ Luisa smiled, encircling Rose’s waist from behind, resting her head on Rose’s shoulder just as she put the finishing touches on their breakfast.

‘Well, you helped,’ Rose smiled, grabbing the tray and continuing back towards the bedroom, waiting for Luisa to follow.

‘I just poured orange juice, that isn’t helping,’ Luisa said, happily skipping after Rose now she _finally_ got to get back into bed.

Rose smiled as Luisa very quickly undid the two remaining buttons on the blouse and dove back into bed, flashing her a wide grin and patting the sheets next to her.

Rose couldn’t help but smile back; this was nice, and Luisa’s enthusiasm to stay in bed the whole day was contagious. There was nothing she would rather do.

‘Strip,’ Luisa said with a sly smile as Rose deposited the tray into her lap.

Rose laughed as she took off her top and stepped out of her shorts, joining Luisa in bed again.

‘Finally,’ Luisa sighed, scooting closer to Rose, careful not to spill any of the orange juice, tea or coffee on the sheets. ‘Now can we _finally_ stay in bed the whole day?’

‘I would like nothing more.’ Rose smiled, bringing her hand up to cup Luisa’s jaw as she pulled her into a kiss.

As they ate, Luisa moaning exaggeratedly as she chewed her eggs, Rose thought about how lucky she was that she ended up here. She really liked Luisa, she was pretty sure she might love her. But it was much too soon to tell Luisa that, so she decided to ask something else instead. Something she was certain Luisa would say yes to.

‘Be my girlfriend?’ Rose asked as she took a sip of her orange juice, carefully watching Luisa’s expression from the corner of her eye.

‘Of course.’ Luisa smiled widely. ‘I thought you were never going to ask.’

Rose laughed at Luisa’s comment. They had only been on one date, and that one was technically still going. ‘So when should I have asked? As soon as I walked through your door last night or after the third orgasm you gave me?’

‘When you got my mail for me a month ago,’ Luisa smirked, bumping Rose’s shoulder just as she was raising the glass of orange juice to her lips, resulting in half of it spilling over and staining the sheet and her chest orange.

‘Shit, sorry,’ Luisa said as she started to dab at Rose’s chest with the already ruined sheets.

Rose could actually see Luisa’s eyes light up as the idea struck her and she abandoned the sheet and pushed Rose flat on her back.

‘Luisa, what are you doing?’ Rose laughed as Luisa straddled her hips.

‘Cleaning up the mess I made.’ Luisa grinned as licked a trail between Rose’s breasts, catching droplets of the spilled orange juice on her tongue.

Rose wasn’t about to protest this very _effective_ way to clean up spilled orange juice. She tangled her hands in Luisa’s hair as Luisa lapped at her chest, getting rid of the sticky sweetness of the juice.

‘I am pretty sure I did not get any juice there.’ Rose laughed as Luisa moved down her body and started placing soft kisses on the inside of her thighs.

‘I am pretty sure you did, actually,’ Luisa grinned, resting her chin on the apex of Rose’s thigh as she looked challengingly up at her. And Rose wondered why the hell she would fight Luisa on this.

‘I think you might be right,’ Rose said, one hand moving to the top of Luisa’s head to tangle in her hair, and the other grabbing the pillow next to her in preparation of what Luisa had wanted to stay in bed for in the first place.

* * *

‘So, I was thinking…’ Rose started, turning her head so she could look at Luisa over her shoulder as Luisa continued to press kisses up her spine.

‘Don’t do that, it’s Sunday. No need for thinking,’ Luisa said softly, continuing the trail of kisses all the way up to her shoulders.

Rose laughed, resting her forehead on the pillow as Luisa laid down next to her and pulled her into a loose embrace.

‘Okay, so what were you thinking?’ Luisa smiled, playing with soft hairs at the back of Rose’s neck.

‘I was thinking that we should probably take a shower. And before you object, I would like to remind you that you spilled orange juice all over the sheets and they are currently sticking to my back, but once you change them and get all showered up with me, we can just go back to bed,’ Rose grinned, stroking Luisa’s back.

Luisa thought it over for a second. ‘Okay,' she nodded. ‘But I have to warn you, my shower is not very big,’ Luisa added with a grin.

‘Well, then we just need to stand really close together, won’t we?’ Rose grinned, pressing a quick kiss to Luisa’s soft, full lips before getting up.

‘We don’t you get in while I change the sheets?’ Luisa whispered into her ear as Rose stretched languidly.

Rose nodded, automatically tilting her head to the other side as Luisa began to kiss her neck softly.

‘Luisa…’ she moaned, knowing that if they continued this they would just end up on the sticky sheets again.

‘I know,’ Luisa sighed, reluctantly pulling away from Rose’s neck. ‘Go get in the shower,’ she grinned, smacking Rose on the ass as she walked past.

‘You’ll pay for that,’ Rose warned her with a smile.

‘I hope so,’ Luisa said, starting to strip the bed off the stained orange sheets while Rose turned on the shower.

* * *

Rose had just stepped into the shower when Luisa walked through the bathroom door, holding her ringing phone.

Rose bit her lip as she turned the water off. ‘Who is it?’ she asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

‘It’s Sarah,’ Luisa beamed. ‘Can I answer?’

Rose felt relief wash over her, she had expected it to be the same caller as earlier that morning and she still did not want to deal with her at all. But Sarah was okay, she probably just wanted to know how their date went.

Rose nodded her okay to Luisa, who immediately answered the call with a big grin on her face.

‘Rose Evans’ phone, she is a little tied up at the moment but can I take a message?’ Luisa grinned, winking at Rose.

Rose couldn’t help but laugh at Luisa’s choice of words, she was certain Sarah would get a kick out of that.

She couldn’t hear Sarah’s response but judging by Luisa’s ever widening smile, it had been a good one.

‘Sarah says ‘hi’,’ Luisa said, clamping her hand over the bottom of the phone so Sarah couldn’t overhear.

‘Say hi back and ask her why she’s calling,’ Rose smiled, her eyes roaming her naked _girlfriend’s_ body.

‘She says hi back and wants to know why you’re interrupting our very blissful morning.’

‘She wants to know if we would like to have lunch with her in an hour or so,’ Luisa said after listening to Sarah talk for a while.

Rose shrugged, Sarah would only be out for details and she didn’t really want to give her nosy colleague/friend any. She knew Luisa would probably do the sharing for her anyway, but it did interfere with their plans to stay in bed all day and make more details _not_ to share with Sarah.

‘Do you want to be submitted to the inquisition or would you rather stay in bed like we planned?’ Rose asked, starting to shiver as the water dried on her back.

‘I like Sarah and, god forgive me, it might be good to get out of the house a little. I’ve been told it is a beautiful day outside.’ Luisa smiled. ‘And besides, I love oversharing.’

Rose laughed. ‘Tell her we’ll be there, wherever there is.’

‘We’ll be there,’ Luisa said into the phone, listing to Sarah talk before turning back to Rose. ‘She says you know where it is. The place you had coffee yesterday?’

Rose nodded and withdrew back into the shower and turned the water on, not hearing Luisa’s probably inappropriate sign-off.

Luisa joined her under the warm spray moments later, pressing flush against her back as she reached around her for the soap.

‘Never thought I’d be this happy with a small shower,’ Luisa smiled as she swept Rose’s hair over one shoulder before starting to wash her back for her.

‘Me neither,’ Rose sighed, closing her eyes as the water pounded down on them.

* * *

‘Luisa, we’re going to be late,’ Rose sighed as Luisa pressed her back against her closet door.

They had gone down to Rose’s apartment so she could pick up some fresh clothes as well, and it was taking much longer to pick an outfit when Luisa was kissing her neck again.

‘She expects us to be late,’ Luisa said, already starting to undo the buttons Rose had just so carefully fastened and kissing down her chest. ‘And you just look really nice in this,’ she smiled.

Rose moaned as Luisa ran her tongue over her collar bone. Sarah could wait for a little longer Rose decided as she pushed Luisa towards her bed.

They ended up being only a little late. Partly because Luisa was very good at what she did and partly because Sarah started sending a text every minute they were late and the constant buzzing of Rose’s phone was sort of killing the mood.

‘Ugh, you two are too sweet,’ Sarah said as they walked into the coffee shop half an hour later than planned, holding hands and wearing matching smiles.

‘Sorry we’re late. There were some _wardrobe_ malfunctions,’ Luisa said, sitting down on the chair Rose had just pulled out for her.

Sarah’s eyebrow raised in response, Rose trying to hold in her laughter as she sat down next to Luisa.

‘Wardrobe malfunctions how?’ Sarah asked, her eyes narrowed.

‘Well, our clothes just wouldn’t stay on,’ Luisa grinned, putting her hand on Rose’s knee underneath the table.

‘So your first date went well then?’ Sarah asked as soon as she recovered from laughing at Luisa’s terrible joke.

‘Well, you did get Luisa this morning when you tried to call me,’ Rose grinned, taking a sip of her newly arrived water, looking over her menu for something to eat.

‘And I already told you about the _many_ wardrobe malfunctions we had this morning,’ Luisa added, squeezing Rose’s knee softly.

‘Speaking about wardrobes, I wanted to thank you for suggesting bringing the plaid,’ Rose said. ‘Luisa looked really cute in it.’

‘That’s not what you said this morning,’ Luisa grinned, running her hand a little higher up Rose’s leg.

Rose trying not to let it show on her face as Sarah watched them with interest.

‘So, whose apartment did you _sleep_ at?’ Sarah asked, innocently taking a sip of her own water.

‘Mine. Rose decided to be a gentlemen and walk me home first.’

‘We live in the same building, it was really no trouble,’ Rose said, remembering how she had almost gone home after Luisa closed her door and what a mistake that would have been.

‘So, how is she in bed?’ Sarah asked, looking at Luisa and winking.

‘I’m right here,’ Rose said, knowing it was absolutely pointless to protest because Luisa and Sarah were some of the chattiest people she knew.

‘ _Really_ expressive,’ Luisa grinned, drawing in the condensation of her glass before looking up at Sarah. ‘And the way she looks when…’ Rose cut her off with a kiss, there were things Sarah had no business knowing about her.

‘What?’ Rose said as she pulled away from the kiss and stared defiantly at Sarah.

‘Nothing. Just let me know when the wedding is.’

‘You’ll be our maid of honor,’ Luisa grinned.

Rose blushed a little at Luisa’s statement. She knew Sarah was kidding at Luisa just joined it, but the thought still send butterflies to her stomach.

‘But let’s first plan our second date,’ Rose said.

‘So when is your second date?’ Sarah asked, waving over a waitress and placing their order.

‘We haven’t gotten that far yet. We are actually _still_ on our first date,’ Luisa smiled warmly at Rose.

‘What about tonight?’ Rose asked, turning in her seat so she could look at Luisa better. ‘I promised to cook for you and judging by the state of your fridge, you need to go out for dinner tonight anyway.’

‘I’d love that,’ Luisa smiled, pressing a soft kiss on Rose’s cheek.

‘Great,’ Rose smiled back, just staring at Luisa for a while before remembering they were not alone at the table. She turned around and found Sarah staring at them with a grin.

‘Oh, don’t mind me. I just like watching you two be cute,’ Sarah smiled, raising her glass to her lips. ‘I still can’t believe you didn’t know you liked each other. After one minute with you I thought you had already been married for three years.’

‘Well, we know now.’ Rose smiled, leaning in for another kiss. That was all that mattered.

Rose spent the rest of their lunch trying to stop Luisa from giving away too many details. Even if listening to Luisa talk about her with a warm smile on her face was quite nice.

After they finished their lunch and Sarah her inquisition, Sarah insisted on paying, as she always did when she was using food to get information about their relationship.

* * *

‘Let’s walk back,’ Rose suggested as soon as they stood outside, Sarah already having hailed a cab. ‘It’s nice out and it is only a couple blocks.’

‘Sure,’ Luisa smiled, linking their hands together and tugging her in the direction of their building. ‘You could use some sun.’

Rose laughed, it was nice to be out with Luisa, to hold her hand, to laugh and joke with her like this relationship was much older than 36 hours. It was strange to imagine that not even two days ago all of this had been an impossible dream.

‘I don’t tan. I just burn. And get freckly all freckly on top of that.’

‘Well, as you already know, I like your freckles,’ Luisa smiled, kissing Rose’s bicep as prove.

‘I like _you,_ ’ Rose said, squeezing Luisa’s hand.

‘I like you, too,’ Luisa answered, a soft smile gracing her face.

They were both silent for a while after that, just holding hands and enjoying the suns on their faces.

‘What do you want to eat tonight?’ Rose asked as she suddenly remembered they were supposed to have a second date tonight and she was going to have to cook something.

She saw Luisa’s eyebrow raise in a, by now, familiar way as one corner of her mouth curled up into a smirk.

‘No, I meant for dinner,’ Rose said, Luisa’s smirk only getting wider.

‘You’re insatiable,’ Rose laughed. ‘Something I can _cook_.’

‘Oh, that kind of eating,’ Luisa grinned, pretending like she had just misunderstood. ‘And you’re not much better yourself. You kept cutting me off with kisses when I tried to tell Sarah that.’

‘Are you complaining about that?’

‘No, never,’ Luisa smiled.

‘So what do you want me to cook for you tonight?’

‘Honestly, I am sure whatever you make will be delicious. Just make whatever you want.’

‘Have you ever had homemade pasta?’ Rose asked after thinking over what to cook for a second.

‘I can’t say that I have.’ Luisa smiled.

‘Would you like to?’ Rose grinned.

‘Sounds great,’ Luisa said, pulling on Rose’s arm so they were face-to-face and leaning in for a kiss.

Rose felt like skipping the rest of the way home to their building, that’s how happy and lucky she felt to be with Luisa.

‘So…’ Rose started as she unlocked the front door of their building. ‘Do you want to go to my place or would you rather go to yours?’

‘Don’t you have a dinner to prepare? So shouldn’t we go to your place?’ Luisa frowned.

‘Yes, but I wasn’t sure you wanted to be there. I mean, we spent a lot of time together already,’ Rose said, fidgeting slightly, she really didn’t want Luisa to go.

‘Are you trying to get rid of me?’ Luisa asked, not sounding like she was joking. ‘Because I know I can be a little much sometimes, so if you need some time for yourself that’s okay,’ Luisa said, and the look in her eye was so sad it broke something in Rose.

‘No, no! Of course not! I’d love if you came back to my place. I just thought that maybe you wanted to actually end our first date before we went on our second.’

Luisa’s smile returned and Rose felt the corners of her own mouth turn up in response. ‘Well, I quite liked our first date so far, but you’re probably right. We should finish our first date before going on our second. So what if I go upstairs and change into something more appropriate for a dinner date, and you go to your apartment and I’ll just come over when I’m ready?’ Luisa said, having maneuvered Rose back against the mailboxes in the hallway and cupping her jaw in her hands as she leaned in for a kiss.

‘I’ll be waiting for you,’ Rose smiled, deciding she’d rather not be caught kissing in front of the mailboxes a third time in as many days, instead starting up the stairs, holding Luisa’s hand firmly in her own.

‘Good, I’ll see you in a bit then,’ Luisa smiled, pressing one last kiss onto her lips before climbing the remains stairs to her own apartment.

Rose didn’t pull the door all the way closed as she went inside so Luisa wouldn’t have to knock when she finished changing.

Rose was humming softly to herself as she pulled out the ingredients she’d need for making the pasta and as such she hadn’t heard the door open and close behind her.

She jumped a little when a pair of hands suddenly covered her eyes, but relaxed immediately when she heard Luisa’s voice in her ear.

‘Guess who?’

‘Is it my amazing girlfriend who decided to come and help me make pasta?’

‘I like how that sounds. _Girlfriend._ You’re my girlfriend.’

‘I like that, too,’ Rose smiled. ‘So are you going to help me?’ she asked, taking Luisa’s wrists in her hands and turning around, swallowing dryly as she saw the dress Luisa had picked for their dinner date.

‘Wow, you look- wow,’ Rose said, her words failing her as they so often did in Luisa’s presence. Luisa was wearing a really tight black dress that rode up inappropriately high on her thighs. ‘But it’s not really cooking appropriate,’ Rose grinned. ‘So here,’ she said, stepping around Luisa and draping an apron around her neck, tightening the bow behind her back. ‘That’s better,’ Rose smiled, kissing Luisa’s bare shoulder. ‘Now, let’s put you to work.’

‘What do you want me to do?’ Luisa said, looking adorable in her blue apron.

So Rose explained the process to her step by step, showing Luisa the correct way to knead the dough and all the other things necessary to make pasta.

She had never really cooked _with_ someone before, and the experience was a lot more enjoyable than cooking alone. Even when Luisa managed to turn the mixer on without a lid and flour went everywhere, or when she kept forgetting her hands were dirty and putting them on Rose’s waist as they kissed, staining her shirt.

‘You have some flour here,’ Rose smiled, reaching up to wipe the white smudge off Luisa’s cheek when there was knock on her door.

‘I’ll get that,’ Rose smiled, keeping an eye on Luisa with a smile as she wiped her hands on a dish towel as she opened the door.

She felt her smile fade as she saw who was on the other side of it. It seemed ignoring her phone calls hadn’t worked out as well as Rose had hoped it would.

‘Mom,’ Rose said dryly, crossing her arms as she stared at the woman in front of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of the reasons this was so hard for me to write is because there was no plot, well there is one now! You can leave your complaints after the beep. (You can leave your positive thoughts there too)
> 
> If you had any feelings about this chapter, please comment, it means the world to me. Ideas and prompts are also always welcome!
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So in order to make last chapter's cliffhanger more cliffhanger-y, I took my sweet time writing this (so sorry) but it is here! Finally!
> 
> Thank you for all the amazing response on the last chapter! It made me so so happy and I hope you'll like this chapter as well. 
> 
> Enjoy!

‘What are you doing here?’ Rose said, not moving out of the doorway to let her mother pass. She had been ignoring her phone calls for a reason.

‘You didn’t answer your phone,’ her mother said as if this explained everything.

Rose knew not picking up her phone would piss her mother off, she didn’t like to be ignored, but showing up at her door was a bit extreme.

‘It’s a four hour drive,’ Rose said, feeling the relaxed and euphoric feeling she’d had since kissing Luisa Friday night start to fade.

‘I was in the city.’

Rose didn’t know why her mother was here, and she didn’t particularly care. As of now, she was ruining her second date with Luisa and she was about three seconds away from wishing her mother a good evening and closing the door in her face. But right at that moment Luisa walked up behind her, brushing her hand against Rose’s side before speaking.

‘The sauce was bubbling so I turned it off, I hope that’s okay,’ Luisa said before turning around to face Rose’s mother, her head tilting to the side as she looked back at Rose, obviously waiting for an introduction.

‘Yeah, that’s fine. Thank you,’ Rose said, smiling softly at Luisa and putting a hand on the small of Luisa’s back, the warmth radiating through the thin fabric of Luisa’s dress helping her stay calm. Maybe she could get rid of her mother quickly and finish making dinner with Luisa. ‘Luisa, this is my step-mother, Elena.’

‘Oh, hi!’ Luisa said, wiping her flour covered hands on her apron before stretching one out to shake Elena’s hand. ‘I’m Luisa Alver, nice to meet you,’ Luisa said, her usual wide smile spreading across her features.

‘Elena di Nola. It’s a pleasure,’ her mother said, curtly shaking Luisa’s hand, a smile never crossing her face.

Luisa either didn’t notice or she just didn’t let other people get her down, she was just her usual cheery self.

It was one of the things Rose liked so much about her, but she wanted to tell Luisa not to waste any energy on getting her mother to like her. It wouldn’t work anyway. Elena didn’t like anyone and Rose was pretty sure she was somewhere at the bottom of the list.

‘I guess you’ll want to come in?’ Rose said reluctantly, finally stepping to the side to allow her mother access to her apartment.

Luisa looked at her and frowned, not used to the hostility in Rose’s voice.

‘If it is no trouble,’ Elena said dryly, already stepping through the door, looking around Rose’s apartment, her gaze coming to rest on the messy kitchen where it looked something was burning.

‘We were making dinner,’ Luisa explained as she noticed where Elena’s gaze was resting.

Rose debated if it was worth the risk of leaving Luisa alone with her mother for 10 seconds as she turned the gas all the way off and saved their dinner from burning beyond recognition.

She decided it was worth it and dashed towards the kitchen, grabbing the saucepan off the fire and turning the knob all the way down. She checked the other pans and pots and when she was satisfied that their contents would still be edible, she grabbed a towel to wipe her hands and walked back towards where her mother and Luisa were exchanging some pleasant small talk, or as pleasant as a conversation with her mother could be.

‘You got some sauce…’ Luisa motioned, already reaching out to brush the splatter of tomato sauce from Rose’s cheek.

‘Thank you,’ Rose smiled, forgetting for a second that her mother was there as well. It didn’t last long.

‘So Luisa told me she lives in the building as well. Friendly neighbors are always a good thing.’ Elena smiled her tight lipped smile, the sentiment not reaching her eyes.

‘Yeah, it’s great,’ Rose deadpanned, earning her another look from Luisa, who didn’t understand why Rose had gone all cold when her mother knocked on the door. ‘So why are you in Miami, mom?’ Rose asked, not satisfied with her mother’s earlier answer.

‘Can’t I drop by to see how my daughter is getting settled in?’ Elena said.

Rose fought the urge to roll her eyes. Of course mothers could do that, even stepmothers might do that. Elena wouldn’t. She was here for a reason and the sooner Rose found out, the sooner Elena would leave and she and Luisa could get back to their date.

‘And you’re obviously doing well. Settling in I mean. Almost all your boxes are unpacked and you already made a new friend,’ Elena said, pointedly looking at the two unpacked boxes marked “books” in the corner of the living room and then back to her.

‘Girlfriend actually,’ Rose said, slinging her arm around Luisa’s waist. Focusing on her mother’s eyes as she waited for the expected reaction.

Elena had never _openly_ had a problem with her homosexuality, but everything about her screamed that she wasn’t actually okay with it. Most of the times she conveniently just “forgot” and tried to set her up with sons of some of her colleagues.

Elena didn’t respond, shifting her gaze to Luisa.

Nobody said anything for a couple of seconds, and Luisa wasn’t great at long, awkward silences especially as she was also being watched.

Rose wanted to say something but Luisa beat her to it.

‘Could I offer you something to drink, maybe?’ Luisa asked, already halfway towards the kitchen, moving away from Elena’s disapproving stare.

‘Red wine if my daughter has a bottle above ten dollars,’ Elena said, starting to walk around the apartment, picking up some of the papers of Rose’s table and leafing through them with evident disinterest.

‘Do you?’ Luisa asked Rose, one eyebrow raised in question.

‘I don’t have any red wine,’ Rose said, she didn’t like drinking alone and as Luisa didn’t drink, she hadn’t bought any alcohol since moving to Miami.

‘White then,’ Elena said.

Luisa looked at her questioningly again.

Rose shook her head, a small smile playing around her lips. ‘Don’t have that either.’

‘What have you been drinking then?’ Elena asked. ‘Please don’t tell my you’ve been drinking beer, darling,’ Elena said, eyeing the plaid shirt Rose was wearing with disapproval.

‘I haven’t been drinking anything, actually,’ Rose said, turning away from her mother.

‘I could go out and get some wine, if you want,’ Luisa offered.

Rose looked at her in surprise, joining Luisa in the kitchen, looking at her in confusion.

‘You don’t have to do that,’ Rose said, lowering her voice so her mother wouldn’t overhear.

‘I have some self-control, you know,’ Luisa smiled.

‘I know you do. But the point is that you shouldn’t have to do this. I’ll go get her her wine. Just stay here and make sure our dinner doesn’t burn. As soon as my mother leaves I’d love to get back to our date,’ Rose smiled, leaning in and pressing a soft kiss on Luisa’s lips, pulling away much quicker than she’d like, because well, her mother was in the room and even if she was no longer a teenager sneaking kisses on the front porch, old habits die hard.

‘I’ll be back soon,’ Rose promised, feeling guilty about leaving Luisa with her mother, even if Luisa didn’t seem to feel that way, she would find a way to make it up to her later. She grabbed her bag and walked out the door, wanting to get back as soon as possible before her mother did what she always did and made Luisa uncomfortable.

* * *

Rose returned 20 minutes later with a bottle of nine dollar red wine. It was petty, she knew, but the sooner her mother left the better.

She unlocked the door and found Luisa and her mother on the couch, talking about something or other.

She smiled at Luisa before walking back into the kitchen and uncorking the bottle and pouring a glass of red wine for her mother.

‘Rose, you didn’t tell me your mother was a lawyer, too,’ Luisa said as Rose sat down next to her, having handed her mother a glass of red wine.

‘She didn’t? Well, Rose used to intern at my law firm back in Tampa,’ Elena said, her smile souring as she took a sip of her wine. ‘That’s why I am in the city, actually. I’m meeting here for a case.’

Well, that explained why she was in Miami, not why she was in Rose’s apartment interrupting her date with her girlfriend. Rose didn’t believe for a second that her mother had dropped by just to check in and criticize her life choices, although that seemed to be a favorite hobby of hers. The only thing Elena seemed to approve of was that Rose had also chosen a career in law.

Rose knew that if she asked her mother why she was here, in her home, _again_ , she would get the same useless answer as before, so she decided she wouldn’t bother. She squeezed Luisa’s knee before she got up.

‘Are you staying for dinner?’ she asked as she walked back into the kitchen, lifting some lids and stirring the pot’s contents.

‘Oh no, I have dinner plans with a client. I just dropped by to extend an invitation to you also,’  Elena said, putting her half-finished glass of wine on the coffee table and turning to face Rose.

‘Why would I come to a meeting with one of your clients?’  Rose asked, raising an eyebrow. ‘I don’t work for you anymore.’

‘I know,’ Elena said dryly. ‘But this is a _very_ high profile case and I would like you to co-council with me.’

Rose was stunned, her eyes narrowed and her mouth half open as she tried to process what her mother had just said. When she worked with Elena, never, not once, had she asked her to work on any case she was working on. And now that she had left the city and moved 4 hours away, suddenly her mother _asked_ for her help?

‘I have a job,’ Rose said crossing her arms again, starting to understand what her mother was trying to do here.

‘With some smalltime firm. What kind of cases do they give you? Muggings? B&E’s? I am giving you the chance to work on the case of the century, it would make your career.’

Rose rolled her eyes. The only thing her mother was offering her was to go back to having every aspect of her life controlled by her: the reason why she left in the first place.

‘I like my job. And I already have plans for tonight,’ Rose said, looking over at Luisa with a smile. ‘So no thank you. I’ll stay right here. Tonight and for my job.’

Elena’s face was a mask, but Rose had learned a long time ago to watch for other clues when it came to judging her mother’s mood. Her shoulders were tightened and her dark brown eyes were so unlike Luisa’s, lacking any spark of warmth, that it send chills down her back.

‘If you change your mind, the offer is valid to the end of the month, that’s when the trial starts,’ Elena said, standing up and brushing the creases from her skirt, walking towards the door without another word.

‘And Rose, do answer your calls next time, it’s unprofessional,’ Elena’s parting remark sounded before Rose’s front door slammed shut.

Rose bit her lip and walked over to where Luisa was still sitting and gathered up the half empty glass of wine and the bottle. On her way back to kitchen Luisa caught her by the wrist.

‘What was that?’ she questioned, her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion at the icy relationship between mother and daughter.

‘That was my mother,’ Rose sighed, sitting down on the couch next to Luisa for a moment.

‘Are you okay?’ Luisa asked, running her hand soothingly up Rose’s arm.

‘She’s gone now, isn’t she?’ Rose smiled. ‘So let’s get back on with our date,’ she said as she got back up, emptying the glass in the sink, pouring the wine bottle in after it for good measure.

‘Rose, if you want to talk…’ Luisa started, lingering at the edge of the kitchen.

Rose sighed. ‘I really don’t. She’s always been like this. Coming into my life and demanding things from me, telling me how to live my life.’

‘Is that why you left?’ Luisa asked, her eyes suddenly blowing wide. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry, it’s just… I have never seen you look anything like that.’

‘It’s okay,’ Rose smiled, drying her hands on a towel before taking Luisa’s hands and pulling her closer. ‘Yes, my mother is part of why I left, we do not get along _great_ as you might have noticed.’

‘I noticed,’ Luisa said, smiling sadly at her.

‘It’s okay, really. I’ve had 15 years to get used to it. But I refuse to let her ruin our second date,’ Rose smiled. ‘So let’s forget about her and see if you managed not to burn any of our dinner.’

‘I did not burn anything!’ Luisa said indignantly, pulling her hands out of Rose’s in mock hurt. ‘I turned the stove off!’

‘Not all the way,’ Rose smiled. ‘But it’s okay, I think I saved it.’

‘So I’ll just sit here and look pretty then?’ Luisa smirked, hopping onto an empty countertop like she had this morning.

‘It would be best for the food,’ Rose grinned, getting hit in the back of the head with the bunched up apron for her comment. Until she turned around and noticed that the apron to the head had not been all there was to Luisa’s revenge. Her already very short and tight black dress had risen even higher on her thighs, leaving barely anything to the imagination.

Rose swallowed hard and slowly adjusted her gaze from the tops of Luisa’s thighs to her face, resting a moment longer on Luisa’s breasts on the way up than she should have. But that apron really had been hiding a lot from view.

‘You sure? You don’t look all that focused to me,’ Luisa grinned, crossing her legs and making her dress hike up even higher. ‘And it would be a shame if you cut your finger, I might have a need for those later,’ she smirked.

‘Well, I could always use my mouth,’ Rose grinned, putting down the knife she had been dicing vegetables with before stepping into Luisa’s space and pulling her in for a kiss.

Luisa’s hands settled on her waist, her fingers digging into her skin as she tried to pull her even closer. Their lips hovered over each other, not yet touching, their breath mingling before they both leaned in a fraction of an inch more, their lips finally brushing together in a soft dance.

Rose had thought that the electricity of Luisa’s touch would fade now that she go to touch her all the time. But it hadn’t. The hairs on the back of her neck still stood up whenever Luisa ran her hands up her arms, or intertwined their finger, but especially so when they kissed. She parted her lips to allow Luisa’s seeking tongue entrance, meeting Luisa halfway to have their tongues dance and mingle together.

Rose’s hands had ended up on Luisa’s bare thighs, pushing her dress up even higher. When she felt the coarse lace of Luisa’s underwear, she moaned softly into the kiss. Remembering Luisa standing before her in just her underwear this morning, looming over her as she was still trying to catch her breath. Suddenly her mother and their dinner faded to the background and she tightly wrapped Luisa’s legs around her middle.

Luisa realized what was going to happen a second before Rose put the plan into motion and wrapped her arms around Rose’s neck. Never breaking the kiss.

Rose lifted the shorter woman off the counter, carrying her towards the couch on the other side of the room.

‘What about dinner?’ Luisa said, breathing hard, the kiss having left them both breathless.

‘It’s still early,’ Rose whispered, kissing Luisa’s exposed shoulder as her hands worked the tight dress up over Luisa’s hips. ‘And it reheats well,’ she smiled, watching Luisa’s chest rise and fall as she tried to get her breathing back under control. Her dark hair splayed across the pillows of her couch and her face just a little flushed. She looked beautiful and Rose told her so.

‘You’re beautiful,’ she smiled, adjusting her position so her leg fell in between Luisa’s, seeing Luisa’s eyes darken and her mouth fall open in a silent gasp as she pressed against her a little tighter.

Luisa reached up and tangled her hands in Rose’s hair, dragging her down for a kiss while simultaneously rocking against Rose’s thigh with increasing urgency.

‘You’re beautiful, too,’ Luisa said, her eyes fluttering closed. ‘But you said something about using your mouth…’

‘I thought there were rules about dessert before dinner?’ Rose grinned.

‘I guess you’re just lucky then,’ Luisa said, watching Rose inch down her body, knowing fully well she was the lucky one.

* * *

About an hour later, Luisa walked out of Rose’s bedroom, reaching behind her to pull the zipper of her dress all the way up.

Rose smiled as she finished lighting the candles and shook out the match. ‘Need a little help with that?’ she asked, putting the matchbox down on the set table before walking over to Luisa, motioning for her to turn around.

Luisa smiled at her, sweeping her hair over one shoulder as she turned her back towards Rose.

‘I’m sorry,’ Rose said softly as she saw the red scratches she’d left on Luisa’s back as she slowly pulled the zipper all the way up.

‘Don’t be,’ Luisa grinned, letting her hair fall down again. ‘I’m not the one who has to wear a scarf to work tomorrow,’ she said as she carefully traced the purple bruise she’d left on Rose’s collarbone.

‘Sarah is going to have a field day with this,’ Rose groaned, pulling the collar of her shirt over it so it covered half of the hickey.

Luisa smiled. ‘Want me to kiss it better?’

‘Mmh, let me think about that for a second.’ Rose smiled, pulling Luisa’s chair out for her. ‘Maybe after dinner.’

Luisa pouted disappointedly. ‘You sure? Explaining two won’t be much harder than explaining one.’

Luisa had a point there, but Rose wasn’t going to give in. She knew they would just end up in the bedroom again and reheating their dinner trice in one evening was a little much.

‘After dinner, Luisa,’ Rose grinned, sitting down across from the still pouting brunette. ‘You can kiss me as much as you’d like after that. I promise it will be worth the wait.’

‘That does look delicious,’ Luisa sighed, her eyes twinkling as she twirled the spaghetti around her fork.

Rose watched expectantly as Luisa raised the first bite to her mouth.

‘Let’s see if you’re right about the virtues of homemade pasta,’ Luisa winked.

‘Oh my god!’ Luisa practically moaned, the sound doing things with Rose and she was suddenly wishing she had taken Luisa up on her earlier offer.

‘Good?’ Rose laughed, bringing her own forkful to her mouth.

‘This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten. With the obvious exception of course,' Luisa grinned, already preparing her next bite. ‘I hope you’re happy. You’ve officially ruined store-bought pasta for me.’

Rose smiled, it was good pasta. ‘You’ll just have to come over again soon, my homemade lasagna is even better.’

‘I’m never leaving,’ Luisa said. ‘But I am taking you up on the lasagna offer,’ she smiled.

* * *

‘I have never been so full,’ Luisa groaned from her spot on the couch as Rose blew out the candles on the table. Leaving the dishes to deal with later. It was Sunday evening and she knew her magical weekend with Luisa would soon come to an end, and she would rather spent it close to Luisa instead of up to her elbows in dishwater.

‘Sit forward a bit,’ Rose instructed as she halted next to Luisa.

Luisa did as Rose said with a soft puff of air, as if moving was too much of a task right now.

Rose settled her back against the armrest of the couch, one leg pressed against the back of the couch and the other hanging off the couch, she carefully guided Luisa to lean back against her.

‘Comfortable?’ she asked, pressing a kiss to the top of Luisa’s head as she lightly wrapped her arms around her stomach.

‘Yes, very, you have nice pillows,’ Luisa said and Rose could hear the grin in her voice.

‘Yeah, you mentioned that before,’ Rose laughed, remembering Luisa’s mouth on her chest not hours earlier.

‘This was a great weekend,’ Luisa murmured. ‘I wish it didn’t have to end.’

‘Me too.’ Rose smiled softly. Apart from her mother barging in on them unannounced, and even that had soon been forgotten in Luisa’s presence, this really had been the perfect weekend. ‘But it isn’t over yet. We have…’ She looked at the clock on the opposite wall. ‘three more hours of Sunday left at least. Plenty of time to do something else.’

‘I can’t move, I’ve eaten way too much of your delicious pasta,’ Luisa groaned, tilting her head so she could look at Rose.

‘You don’t have to move, we can stay right here,’ Rose said, kissing Luisa’s cheek. ‘Do you want to watch a movie? It’s the traditional date set-up, dinner and then a movie.’

‘Yeah. I’d like that,’ Luisa smiled. ‘What have you got?’

‘Well, Netflix has a lot of options,’ Rose said, reaching for the remote on the coffee table. ‘And I don’t have to get up to put it on,’ she said as she turned on her TV.

She could feel the melodic hum from Luisa’s laughter against her throat as the brunette turned her head.

‘What?’ Rose asked.

‘Netflix and chill, Rose,’ Luisa laughed.

‘What?’ Rose said again, not knowing what Luisa meant.

‘Oh my god, you don’t know,’ Luisa said, her expression equal parts shocked and amused. ‘You’re too cute.’

‘What’s Netflix and chill?’ Rose asked, confusion taking over.

‘Netflix…’ Luisa said, motioning to the TV with her head. ‘and chill,’ she grinned, taking one of Rose’s hands from her stomach and guiding it down her thigh, hiking her dress up a bit as she settled Rose’s hand over her lace-covered center.

‘Oh!’ Rose sighed, blushing a little. ‘That kind of chill.’

‘Yeah,’ Luisa sighed, placing Rose’s hand back on her stomach. ‘But just Netflix is fine with me. Let’s see what you have in your queue.’

‘Luisa…’ Rose said as Luisa skillfully took the remote from her and started scrolling through her Netflix queue. Making the occasional sound of recognition or a surprised noise that she hadn’t seen that movie yet.

* * *

Luisa cuddled deeper into Rose’s “pillows” as the credits rolled.

‘I don’t want to go,’ Luisa murmured.

‘Well, you could always stay.’ Rose said carefully, resting her chin on top of Luisa’s head.

‘No, I should go,’ Luisa said, sitting up. ‘I have to work tomorrow and so do you. And if tomorrow morning is anything like this morning, we’re both going to be late,’ Luisa smiled.

‘You’re probably right,’ Rose sighed, running a hand through her hair when a horrible thought struck her. ‘You don’t think we’re moving too fast, do you?’

‘What? Rose, no. Of course not!’

‘I mean, we’ve only been dating for two days, and we spent most of that in each other’s company and…’

‘Rose, do you think we’re moving too fast? Because we can slow it down if you want to.’

‘No, no, not at all. It’s just. It’s weird I guess. This is so new and yet I have never felt so comfortable and natural in any relationship.’

‘Me neither. But we’ve known each other for a little longer, and then there was the whole ‘fake’ relationship preceding our real one. So you could say we’ve been dating for longer.’

‘Mmhh, yeah,’ Rose smiled. ‘I do know more about you than all my previous girlfriends combined.’

‘And how many were there?’ Luisa grinned.

‘Wouldn’t you like to know?’ Rose said, kissing Luisa softly on the lips before getting up off the couch, pulling Luisa with her.

‘Let me help you with the dishes before I go home,’ Luisa said. ‘It’s the least I could do to thank you for this wonderful dinner.’

Rose was going to protest that that wasn’t necessary, but she could see that Luisa wouldn’t take no for an answer. So she gave in without a word.

‘Do you want to dry or wash?’ Rose asked, gathering the plates from the table and putting them in the sink with the pots and pans and other dishes.

‘Wash. I can’t reach the cupboard where you store your plates,’ Luisa said dryly but with a little twinkle in her eye.

‘Okay,’ Rose smiled, pressing another quick kiss to Luisa’s cheek before hanging the blue apron around Luisa’s neck again. ‘Wouldn’t want your dress to get dirty,’ Rose grinned. ‘I like it too much for that.’

‘You’re just angling for another wardrobe malfunction,’ Luisa grinned, tying the bow behind her back and testing the temperature of the water before adding in a decent amount of dish soap and starting to wash the plates, handing them to Rose whenever she was finished with them.

* * *

‘Thank you, for helping with the dishes.’ Rose smiled as she kissed Luisa softly on the lips. They were standing in the hallway, Luisa ready to leave but Rose couldn’t let her go just yet.

‘Thank you for cooking for me,’ Luisa said, standing up on her toes and pressing another kiss against Rose’s mouth.

‘Thank you for a great weekend. I have never had this much fun.’

‘Yeah, I had fun, too,’ Luisa grinned, wrapping her arms around Rose neck and dragging her in for yet another kiss. This one hungrier and deeper than their previous kisses goodnight.

‘Lu…’ Rose said, the nickname escaping her as it had a couple times earlier that day, usually when her mind was clouding over with arousal. ‘If you want to go home, you should stop kissing like you want to stay.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Luisa grinned, not looking sorry at all. ‘I’ll go now. Goodnight Rose.’

‘Goodnight Luisa,’ Rose grinned, leaning against the doorjamb, but not before catching Luisa by the wrist and pulling her in for one final kiss.

‘Go. Now,’ she said as she let go of Luisa.

‘I’ll see you tomorrow by the mailboxes?’ Luisa asked.

‘I’ll wait for you,’ Rose smiled.

‘I knew it was impossible for us to come home at exactly the same time each night,’ Luisa said triumphantly.

‘Well, seeing you every evening was the highlight of many days.’ Rose smiled, not embarrassed in the slightest as she knew now that Luisa had been doing the exact same thing whenever she was early.

‘Mine too. I don’t want to give up this ritual. How would I get my mail otherwise?’ Luisa grinned. ‘But I suggest making one tiny change.’

‘And what is that?’ Rose asked, one eyebrow raised.

‘This,’ Luisa grinned, rushing forwards to trap Rose between the wall and her body, smiling menacingly at her as she nipped softly at Rose’s lower lip before kissing her deeply.

‘I can live with that change,’ Rose breathed when Luisa pulled away an inch.

‘Good, I’ll see you tomorrow then,’ Luisa smiled, this time really starting up the stairs to her own apartment.

Rose smiled as she closed the door behind her, sighing happily as she walked through her apartment, turning off the lights. Her smile fading slightly as she spotted the empty wine bottle on the counter and was reminded of her mother’s unexpected visit. But she shut off the last light in the living room and ignored the bottle as she walked into her bedroom.

The sheets were still rumpled from their pre-dinner wardrobe malfunction and Rose looked at them with a fond smile, her mother all but forgotten.

After completing her evening routine, she slipped underneath the sheets, immediately missing the warmth and the weight of Luisa’s body next to her. They had slept in the same bed only once, but she already feared she wouldn’t be able to sleep without the brunette next to her.

She checked her phone and smiled as she saw the text message Luisa had sent only moments ago.

“I miss having you in my bed and in my arms.”

“I miss having your arms around me,” Rose replied, smiling softly to herself. “But maybe I’ll dream of you.”

“I hope so.” Luisa’s reply read. “Sweet dreams.”

“Sweet dreams,” Rose replied, putting her phone down and trying to get comfortable in her own bed now Luisa wasn’t with her. Instead fondly remembering the last weekend in the hope that she would dream about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So no cliffhanger this week. But don't worry, this isn't the last we've seen of Rose's mother. (queue evil laughter)
> 
> If you liked it consider leaving a comment, they are like late night texts from your crush, absolutely adorable and they bring a smile to my face!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry it took so long, but it is here now and I hope it was worth the wait!
> 
> Enjoy!

Rose woke that morning from the harsh buzzing of her alarm, an unwelcome change from how she had woken up the day before. Luisa’s arms weren’t around her, no soft breathing on the back of her neck and no sleepy murmurs asking her to stay in bed just a little longer.

She sighed and shut off her alarm, sending Luisa a good morning text as she shuffled into the kitchen to make herself a strong cup of coffee, she had the feeling she would need it today.

Her dreams had mostly been pleasant, filled with a certain smiling brunette, but the last ones had a shadowy presence lurking over them, and that combined with her alarm hadn’t put Rose in the best of moods.

That changed when she felt her phone buzz with a new text from Luisa (with three little hearts behind her name, Luisa had seemingly gotten a hold of her phone yesterday and changed her contact information), Rose smiled and opened it as she poured herself a cup of fresh coffee.

Luisa<3<3<3 @ 6:47 AM  
“Good morning! I miss you already. Can you do lunch or is that too clingy?”

Rose laughed, there were a lot of hopeful emoticons behind the last question.

Rose @ 6:47 AM  
“Lunch sounds great, I missed you too.”

Maybe they were being a little clingy, but as Sarah would most definitely put it when she ambushed her with an expensive latte to bribe her for more details, they were smackdab in the middle of the “honeymoon” phase of their relationship and a little clinginess was to be expected.

Luisa<3<3<3 @ 6:48 AM  
“I have to hop into the shower now, I will pick you up on my way down?”

Rose smiled, both at the mental image that was Luisa in the shower and at the promise that she would soon see her again.

Rose @ 6:49 AM  
“I better get going then. See you soon.”

She risked using the kiss-blowing emoticon as a placeholder for “I love you”. Rose knew she could grow to love Luisa, but that would take longer than three days. They had only just gotten together, and she did not want to rush this relationship, Luisa meant too much to her already. Which was a clear signal that the attraction she was feeling would change into something more eventually.

She sipped her coffee, the caffeine waking up the parts of her brain that hadn’t been woken by Luisa’s texts yet.

As she stood in front of her wardrobe, she found herself not only picking an outfit appropriate for work, but something that Luisa would like on her as well.

Eventually, she picked a modest blue dress that fit her body snuggly, but wouldn’t give her anyone an eyeful as she bent over.

Hanging the dress on the closet door, she finished her coffee and stepped into the bathroom, ready to begin her morning routine.

* * *

There was a knock on her door just as she was busy rinsing the leftover milk from her cereal bowl.

Excitedly, Rose smoothed her dress down and fluffed her hair a little, having a pretty good idea was on the other side of the door.

‘Good-’ She only got half of the sentence out before Luisa’s arms were around her neck and she was pulled into a kiss that would have her reapplying her lipstick before going into work.

‘- morning,’ she finished with a smile as Luisa pulled away.

‘It is now,’ Luisa said, smiling that smile that made Rose feel like the luckiest person in the world every time it was directed at her. ‘You look nice,’ Luisa grinned as she obviously and blatantly checked Rose out.

‘So do you,’ Rose said, having trouble keeping her eyes off the deep V Luisa’s green blouse created.

‘Are you ready to go?’ Luisa asked, her hands stroking down Rose’s arms.

‘Yes, just let me get my bag.’ Rose still had trouble believing this was actually real, that Luisa was real and that she was actually her girlfriend now. It was way more than she expected when she moved to Miami to get away from her mother and her thinly veiled disapproval of everything she did.

Rose grabbed her bag, keys and phone off the counter and joined Luisa outside in the hallway. Their hands automatically finding each other as they walked down the stairs together.

‘So lunch, right?’ Luisa said, standing up on her toes as she kissed Rose again.

‘Definitely, I will need a break from Sarah’s interrogation in a few hours.’

‘Tell her I said hi and that I have the number for the U-Haul rental on speed dial.’

Rose laughed, pecking Luisa lightly on the lips again. ‘I will most certainly _not_ be telling her that.'

‘Why not? I just said hi,’ Luisa grinned, letting go of Rose’s hand and taking a step back. ‘But I have to go or we are both going to be late.’

‘See you in a few hours,’ Rose said, holding the door for Luisa, not being able to resist pecking her on the cheek before they both took off in a different direction.

* * *

Rose’s good mood lasted until she reached her floor of the building and found most of her colleagues crowded around the small TV in the breakroom.

‘What’s going on?’ Rose asked Sarah.

‘Ashcroft just fired his attorney and hired this bigshot from Tampa.’

Rose felt dread settle in her stomach even before she heard her mother’s voice coming from the TV set.

“Mrs. Di Nola, how do you feel about stepping in right in the middle of what most call the trial of the century?”

“This is hardly the trial of the century as my client is innocent. Thank you,” Elena finished as she brusquely strode past the wall of photographers and cameras.

So that was the case Elena had offered her a hand in. Rose wanted to laugh. Warren Ashcroft had been accused of sexually assaulting and murdering five different women, he allegedly met and chatted up in the nightclubs his father owned all across the state. The evidence against him was staggering; the witness alone enough to put him away for life, but with his daddy’s money, Warren had been able to afford the best attorney’s which now apparently included her mother.

‘Dumb move, firing his attorney in the middle of the trial,’ someone pointed out.

‘Especially as his last attorney got that witness testimony from the second murder thrown out.’

The murmuring continued for a while, Rose remaining quiet, her mind still trying to wrap itself around the fact that her mother was actually defending a bona fide serial killer.

‘Is your mind still in Luisa’s bed or what?’ Sarah joked, jabbing Rose in the side with her elbow after the rest of their colleagues had wandered off to do some actual work.

‘What? Yes, no! Sorry, just a little distracted,’ Rose said, tilting her head to the side as her mother’s resume appeared on screen.

‘Hey, didn’t you used to work for Di Nola, Lincoln and Garcia?’ Sarah asked, the firm’s name flashing across the screen in bold letters.

‘Worse, she’s my mother,’ Rose sighed, reaching for the remote to shut the TV off.

‘WHAT!?’ Sarah yelled, clasping her hand around Rose’s elbow. ‘Elena di Nola is your _mother_?’

‘Please, lower your voice,’ Rose hissed, not really wanting anyone else to find out that she and Elena were related, especially now with the trial. ‘And she’s really my stepmother.’

‘Your stepmother is defending Warren Ashcroft? Did you know?’ Sarah said, her voice approaching a more normal volume but still quite shrill.

‘That she was going to be Ashcroft’s new attorney? No, she dropped by yesterday to ask me to co-council on a high-profile case but she conveniently forgot to mention who exactly she was going to be defending.’

‘She asked you to work on the CASE OF THE CENTURY?’ Sarah said, her voice gaining in volume once again.

Rose shot her a look and Sarah pacifyingly raised her hands to let her know she could be calm.

‘Yes, she did. I said no,’ Rose said, leaving the breakroom and walking over to her office. Sarah following her.

‘You said no?’ Sarah asked incredulously.

‘Yes, I no longer work for her and I have no interest in doing so again.’

‘This case could make you career!’

‘If I won, which, let’s face it, is doubtful, the evidence against him is sky-high. And even then my name would just be a footnote in Elena’s triumph.’

‘Jeez, you and your stepmother don’t get along, do you?’ Sarah said, responding to the icy quality of Rose’s tone.

‘It’s a fairy-tale cliché, I know,’ Rose sighed, firing up her computer. ‘We never had a great relationship, and it didn’t improve much when I came out.’

‘Auch, I’m sorry,’ Sarah said, petting Rose on the shoulder. ‘So let’s move on from that then. How did your second date with Luisa go yesterday?’ she asked instead, her eyes sparkling mischievously. 

Rose sighed, her smile returning as she thought about Luisa.

‘That’s a good sign,’ Sarah smiled back.

‘It was a good date, until my mother decided to interrupt that, too,’ Rose said, her smile changing into a frown.

‘Your mother showed up during your second date? Doesn’t she call first?’

‘I was a little busy when she did,’ Rose answered.

Sarah took a second to process that nugget of information before smirking slightly at her.

‘Okay, ignoring your mother, what happened after? I need to know everything.’

‘Luisa helped me make pasta, we ate the pasta, we did the dishes, we watched a movie, it was nice.’ Rose smiled, remembering the previous night very vividly.

Sarah narrowed her eyes, knowing a half-truth when she heard one. ‘You’re not telling me everything.’

‘That’s it, that’s all that happened, it was just a normal second date.’ Rose decided it was better not to tell Sarah that she had to reheat dinner twice because of other _activities_ distracting them _._ It seemed, however, that her face was incapable of perpetrating that lie as Sarah saw right through her.

‘You liar! More wardrobe malfunctions I am sure,’ Sarah laughed, good-naturedly punching Rose in the shoulder.

‘Is that what the kids are calling it these days?’ a voice came sounded.

Rose clenched her teeth and turned around to face Leon, who was leaning against her open office door, his trademark smirk firmly in place.

Rose hadn’t seen or even thought about Leon since he stormed out of the restaurant Friday night. She was about to tell him to fuck off, when she caught a flash of the panicked look on Sarah’s face. And Rose suddenly realized that there was a reason Leon had stormed out of the restaurant, and that was the same reason she and Luisa were now really together. _Really_ together. Fuck.

She had no idea how long Leon had been listening, but as she mentally rewound her conversation with Sarah, she was pretty sure she had mentioned something about it being only her and Luisa’s second date. Which did not add up with the story Leon knew.

She had been so absorbed by the fact that she and Luisa were actually together now, that she had forgotten that all her colleagues, Sarah excluded, thought they had been dating for much longer.

‘What do you want, Leon?’ Sarah asked, seeing that Rose was struggling to come up with an answer of her own.

‘Hanson sent me to let Rose know he is taking her off the Mills case.’ Leon practically beamed when he delivered the news.

‘What?’ Rose said, flying up from her chair. ‘I have been working on that since I got here! Why is he doing this?’

‘I don’t know, he’s the boss, I just deliver the news,’ Leon said, his grin betraying that he definitely knew more than he was letting on.

 ‘It goes to trial _tomorrow_ ,’ Rose bit out, it was 8 AM and Leon was already getting on her nerves.

‘He said a more senior lawyer should take over. So the case file, please,’ he said, holding out his hand, his smarmy smile as firmly in place as his meticulously styled hair.

Rose ground her teeth, retrieving the file from the stack on her desk. This was ridiculous. She had done all the work and Leon would be getting all the credit.

‘Here,’ Rose said, thrusting the file at Leon, having trouble keeping her anger under control. Leon was infuriating all by himself, but him taking the credit for something Rose had spent a month working on was just too much to take on top of thing with her mother.

‘Thank you, I’m sure it is well organized. It would have to be to keep track of all your lies,’ he added, waving the file over his shoulder as he exited the office.

‘Who the fuck does he think he is?’ Sarah hissed, closing the door with a little too much force, the picture frames on the wall rattling.

‘I have no idea. But I would like to know why Hanson decided to pull my best case.’

‘No clue, you have been winning all your cases so far. There is absolutely nothing that suggests you can’t handle this one.’

‘Bet it was Leon’s doing,’ Rose said, slamming her desk drawer closed, taking some of her frustration out on inanimate objects.

‘Oh, I am certain of that. He has pull with Hanson, he’s his godson or something. His father and Hanson are college buddies. It is nepotism in action.’

Rose huffed, nepotism was one of the reasons she had left Elena’s firm. She didn’t like the whispers behind her back saying she only had a job because of her mother. While nothing could be less true, she had worked very hard for the grades she got and her mother hadn’t even been the partner that hired her. But of course no one was interested in the truth.

‘All because I wouldn’t date him?’ Rose groaned, angrily typing in her password.

‘Men are dicks, and Leon is the worst one. But don’t worry, I am sure he’ll get over his ego sooner rather than later and Hanson won’t keep condoning this before forever, he’s a good guy. You’ll get another good case, hell, I’ll give you one of mine right now,’ Sarah offered.

‘No, that’s okay, Sarah. I’ll just go back to work and show Hanson I can handle more complex cases,’ Rose shrugged, she was still pissed, but what Leon didn’t know was that anger only made her more determined to achieve her goals. And kicking Leon’s ass was now firmly priority number one.

‘I’ll let you get back to that then,’ Sarah said, ‘I should probably get some work done myself. How about lunch? My treat.’

‘I already have plans with Luisa, but raincheck?’

Sarah laughed, ‘Yeah, of course, go spend time with your girlfriend.’

Rose flashed Sarah a small smile as she left her office, the pleasant mood she had been in the whole weekend having almost completely disappeared now. The only good thing in her immediate future lunch with Luisa and she was working with that prospect on her mind.

* * *

Rose had been so absorbed in her work that it took Luisa saying her name twice for her to notice she was even there.

It took her a moment to get past the details of the B&E she was working on and realize that Luisa was not supposed to be here.

‘Hey! What are you doing here?’ Rose asked, surprise evident in her tone.

‘Picking you up for lunch,’ Luisa said, wandering into Rose’s office and sitting down on the edge of her desk.

Rose intertwined her hand with Luisa’s, before realizing that something didn’t add up.

‘I didn’t know you were picking me up,’ she said, tilting her head to the side as she questioningly looked at Luisa.

‘I wasn’t originally, but you weren’t responding to my texts, so,’ Luisa smiled.

‘What?’ Rose said, picking her phone up from the corner of her desk, wanting to punch herself as she remembered turning it off so she could concentrate on work better. She had meant to turn it back on in time to discuss her lunch plans with Luisa, but she had forgotten. ‘I’m so sorry, I was working and I forgot to turn my phone back on.’

‘That’s okay,’ Luisa smiled. ‘I texted Sarah and she said just to come over and pick you up, that you could use some one-on-one time with your girlfriend.’

‘Did she tell you what happened?’ Rose asked, getting up to grab her stuff, more than ready for lunch.

‘No, but why don’t you tell me during our lunch?’ Luisa said, smiling softly, pulling on Rose’s hand so she would look at her.

Rose realized that she hadn’t even kissed Luisa hello yet, and immediately set to rectify that mistake, brushing her lips softly over Luisa’s, they were still at the office after all.

‘Hi,’ Rose smiled as she pulled away.

‘Hi,’ Luisa smiled back. ‘Let’s go. I want to properly kiss you, but I would rather not give your colleagues another show.’

‘I think that would be best,’ Rose smiled, being near Luisa already working wonders on her mood. She held the door open for Luisa, settling her hand on the small of Luisa’s back as she guided her towards the elevator. Smiling at Sarah and Kate who were giving them a thumbs-up and sneering at Leon, who was watching them with much the same expression.

Luisa had noticed Leon as well and wrapped her arm around Rose’s waist, pulling her closer.

‘I hate that dick,’ Luisa whispered to Rose as they waited for the elevator.

‘Is that the only reason you are holding me like this?’ Rose asked with a grin, enjoying the proximity to Luisa in her place of work, no matter the reason.

‘Not a chance,’ Luisa grinned. ‘This is sort of a win-win for me, actually.’

Rose laughed. ‘For me too.’

* * *

They decided not to go to their usual lunch place, as far as the two lunches they had there would qualify the place as their “usual”. Instead going to the small restaurant across the street, where Rose usually ate with Sarah and Kate, as Luisa didn’t have a lot of time, having wasted some by picking Rose up instead of meeting her at the restaurant.

‘So, tell me what happened today,’ Luisa said, after giving Rose a proper kiss. ‘I’m assuming Leon had something to do with it.’

‘He is one of the reasons I so rudely forgot about our lunch, yes. I am still sorry about that, by the way.’

‘So what is the other reason?’ Luisa asked, squeezing Rose’s hand to let her know she was forgiven for almost forgetting their lunch date.

‘My mother,’ Rose huffed.

‘Did she stop by the office, or something?’ Luisa questioned.

‘Something like that,’ Rose laughed humorlessly. ‘She was on TV this morning.’

‘Your mother was on TV? What? Why?’ Luisa asked, her eyebrows adorably furrowed together in confusion.

‘She is apparently Warren Ashcroft’s new lawyer.’

‘Warren Ashcroft…’ Luisa repeated. ‘I know that name…’

Rose was about to explain when recognition flitted across Luisa’s face.

‘Oh! Warren Ashcroft the serial killer?’ Luisa asked, her eyes widening as Rose nodded.

‘I read about him, he killed five women. Your mother is defending him? Is that the trail she asked you to work on with her?’

Rose nodded. ‘I didn’t realize it was until I saw her on TV this morning.’

‘Wow, that is a high profile case, are you sure you don’t want to work on it?’

‘I am certain, I have a job here and you have met my mother, so,’ Rose said.

‘It must be weird to see your mother on TV,’ Luisa mused.

‘It’s not the first time. She has taken some high-profile cases over the years, and as long as she keeps winning them, she will keep making an appearance on the evening news.’

‘So what did Leon do to get you in a bad enough mood to ignore me?’

‘Oh, he decided to be an even bigger dick and stole one of my better cases.’

‘He what? How?’ Luisa said loudly, her features contorted with confusion.

‘He’s Hanson’s, my boss’, godson or something, and he is obviously not over me turning him down for a date.’

‘I will kick his ass,’ Luisa growled, making Rose laugh.

‘He also still thinks we are faking it, and he might have overheard something Sarah and I were discussing about our second date.’

‘Well, fuck him. What is he going to do about it? We’re together, what does it matter when it started?’

Rose shrugged, she had no idea why it still mattered. Leon had already taken a case from her, she didn’t really know what else he could still do to make her life hell, but she would rather not find out.

‘Anyway, enough about my bad day and terrible colleagues, how was your day?’ Rose asked, just wanting to put this behind her and spent a nice hour with Luisa, not thinking about her mother or Leon.

‘It was okay, nothing special,’ Luisa shrugged.

They feel into easy conversation after that, Luisa talking about her job and Rose just listening and watching Luisa’s face light up as she recounted some of the things that had happened to her that morning.

At the end of her lunch hour, Rose felt less stressed and less annoyed by the events of that morning, seeing Luisa for an hour seemingly having turned her day around.

‘I’ll see you tonight?’ Luisa asked, her hands still on Rose’s shoulders as she lowered down to the ground after their kiss goodbye. ‘I bet the mailman came by today,’ she grinned, wiggling her eyebrows.

‘Of course you will,’ Rose smiled, looking forward to their nightly ritual of getting the mail. She wondered if she should invite Luisa over for dinner now, or spontaneously do it that evening as they walked up the stairs. She decided to go with spontaneous, not wanting to seem _too_ clingy.

‘I hope the rest of your day goes better,’ Luisa smiled, brushing her lips over Rose’s again.

‘I hope so, too,’ Rose said, tucking a stray curl behind Luisa’s ear. ‘I hope the rest of you day is just as good as your morning was.’

‘I doubt that,’ Luisa sighed, explaining further as Rose raised an eyebrow. ‘Monday afternoons are for paperwork. I hate paperwork.’

Rose laughed. ‘My whole job is paperwork.’

‘And I don’t know how you do it,’ Luisa grinned. ‘But I’ll see you tonight! Bye Rose,’ Luisa said as she hailed a cab.

* * *

Rose’s afternoon at work was decidedly better than her morning had been, kissing Luisa obviously was a very good remedy for bad news.

Leon stayed away and there were no more newscasts on the Ashcroft trail featuring her mother.

Rose’s new drive to prove she could handle the difficult cases had her tear a hole through the case files on her desk. She had always been ambitious and she did work better with a little competition. And Leon was the best (worst) competition she could have, because she wanted to do nothing more than punch the obnoxious smile off his face. But she would have to settle for the less illegal option of destroying his win-loss ratio instead.

Rose was just about to leave, putting the files she wanted to read that night into her bag, when Leon appeared in her doorway again.

‘Hanson wanted me to give you this,’ Leon grinned, holding out a whole stack of manila folders.

‘What are these?’ Rose asked, opening the one on top and scanning the page.

‘Just some cases I delegated to you.’

Rose bit her tongue, suspecting right away that the cases Leon had so graciously “delegated” to her where all planning to plead guilty, which was going to kill her win-loss ratio.

‘I didn’t know Hanson had promoted you to be his errant boy,’ Rose bit out, stuffing the files into her bag. Leon might have the upper hand now, but she wasn’t going to let him just get away with it.

Sadly, Leon didn’t respond to her taunt, just tousling his hair and turning on his heel.

Rose glared at him until he disappeared from her office, finishing locking up and going home.

She grew increasingly frustrated as she leafed through the case files in the back of the cab and found out that her suspicion had been right. Leon had handed her a pile of impossible to win cases. Most wouldn’t even see court and just plead out, which was not why Rose had become a lawyer.

Just as Rose was about to curse Leon into hell for messing with her job like this, the cab halted in front of her building.

Rose was just paying the cabdriver as a soft touch on her shoulder made her turn around.

‘Hey,’ Luisa greeted, smiling happily at her.

‘Hey, have you been here long?’ Rose said, wrapping her arms around Luisa and kissing her quickly.

‘Nope, just arrived really. You don’t look happy, Leon again?’ Luisa said, frowning slightly.

‘Yeah, he just dumped a pile of crap cases on me, making me want to kill him. But seeing you makes up for that,’ Rose smiled, unlocking the front door of their building and watching Luisa as she walked through the door, her ass looked great in the tight white skirt she was wearing and she needed some distraction from the day she just had.

Luisa, who had felt Rose’s eyes on her, winked at her and grinned.

‘See something you like?’

Rose nodded, her hands casually brushing against Luisa’s backside as she passed her by to get her mail.

Luisa gasped slightly, staring at Rose with an open mouth before playfully shoving her.

‘Rose, we’re in public,’ Luisa laughed.

‘Oh, I know,’ Rose grinned, retrieving Luisa’s mail, handing the brunette the small stack. Turning back around to get her own mail.

As she leafed through her own mail, finding nothing interesting, just some junk and a couple of bills, she noticed that Luisa seemed really engrossed in one of the letters she’d received.

‘Something interesting?’ Rose asked.

‘Yeah, you could say that,’ Luisa said, frowning as she turned the card over. ‘My brother is getting married next month.’

‘Congratulations?’ Rose said, not understanding the look on Luisa’s face.

‘I didn’t even know he was dating anyone,’ Luisa huffed in annoyance, putting the invitation back in the envelope.

Rose raised an eyebrow, from what she had heard of Luisa’s brother, they used to be pretty close.

Luisa was still frowning when she retrieved her phone from her bag, hitting a button and putting the phone to her ear.

‘Yeah, Raf, hi, You’re getting married?’

Rose watched the expressions on Luisa’s face change from confusion to annoyance to a tentative smile. ‘Yeah, I’ll be there, of course I’ll be there. Can I just meet the woman first? I don’t know, let me ask, one moment.’ Luisa clasped her hand over the receiver. ‘Would you mind having dinner with my brother and his fiancée Wednesday?’

‘Yeah, sure,’ Rose said, a little taken aback by the question until she realized that Luisa had already met her mother, and going on what Luisa had told her about Rafael, he was a whole lot easier to deal with than Elena.

‘Yeah, Wednesday is fine, I’m bringing Rose. My girlfriend,’ Luisa explained after a little pause. 'No, I shouldn’t have called you to tell you I was seeing someone. You didn’t even bother telling me you were getting married! Yes, I will see you Wednesday, say hi to your fiancée, love you,’ Luisa said before hanging up.

‘I can’t believe him,’ she said to Rose, shaking her head slightly. ‘He’s getting married in a month and he didn’t bother to tell me? Anyway, I hope you are ready for dinner with the Solano’s, because that is happening,’ Luisa said, taking Rose’s hand as they walked up the stairs together.

‘It can’t be worse than our almost dinner with my mother,’ Rose shrugged, her thumb stroking over Luisa’s knuckles, hoping to calm her down a little.

‘Oh, you haven’t met my family,’ Luisa sighed. Leaving Rose wondering just what exactly she meant by that…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So decidedly more drama this chapter! Let me know what you think, I love hearing from all of you!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, long time no see... Have this MOUNTAIN of fluff to make up for it, seriously, sorry for the wait.
> 
> Enjoy this nearly inhumane amount of fluff!

Rose grabbed Luisa’s hand as they walked up the stairs. Her plan to “spontaneously” invite Luisa over for dinner momentarily put on hold as Luisa appeared to be lost in thought. Her brother’s impromptu wedding obviously weighing heavily on her.

Rose rubbed calming circles on the back of Luisa’s hand as they climbed the stairs in silence.

‘Luisa,’ Rose said softly, smiling as Luisa had just kept walking, passing her front door in the process.

‘This is my floor.’

‘Right, sorry. I was just… thinking,’ Luisa sighed, squeezing Rose’s hand.

‘Do you want to come in for a cup of tea?’

Luisa shook her head. ‘No, no. I’m fine. And it’s getting late already, I should let you get started on dinner.’

‘What were you planning on eating tonight?’ Rose asked.

‘What, I don’t know. I can go out, or order something,’ Luisa shrugged.

‘I’m making a stir-fry, you can have dinner with me,’ Rose smiled, squeezing Luisa’s hand again.

‘You already cooked for me yesterday.’

‘I won’t be cooking _for_ you. I am cooking for _me_ and as I happen to hate cooking for one, I have enough ingredients for two, so you can join me. If you want to, of course,’ Rose said, not only wanting to spend some more time with Luisa after the day she had just had, but also not wanting Luisa to sit all by herself for the rest of the night as something was obviously bothering her. ‘Come on, you’ll be doing me a favor.’

‘Okay, I guess your cooking is better than take-out.’

‘Plus, I am _amazing_ company,’ Rose joked.

‘You are great,’ Luisa said, kissing Rose softly on the lips.

‘Great,’ Rose smiled as she unlocked her door and pulled Luisa inside with her.

‘Here, sit while I change out of this dress,’ Rose said as she pulled a chair out for Luisa.

Luisa was looking between the chair and Rose as a grin broke across her face. ‘But I have been waiting to see that dress on the floor all day,’ Luisa pouted.

Rose smiled. ‘I won’t kick you out if you do follow me,’ Rose said before sauntering off in the direction of her bedroom, Luisa indeed following her.

‘Can you get the zipper?’ Rose asked, sweeping her hair over one shoulder as she turned around.

‘Of course.’ Luisa placed one hand on Rose’s shoulder and dragged the zipper down slowly.

‘All done,’ Luisa husked, pressing a kiss to the top of Rose’s spine that made goosebumps break out all over Rose’s skin.

‘Have I told you how beautiful you are today yet?’ Luisa asked, her arms encircling Rose’s waist as she rested her head on her shoulder.

‘This morning, I believe,’ Rose hummed, turning around in Luisa’s arms.

‘Well, you’re gorgeous,’ Luisa smiled, tilting her head up to meet Rose’s gaze.

‘So are you, stunning really,’ Rose said before brushing her lips softly across Luisa’s.

As they kissed the dress slipped off Rose’s shoulders, held up around her waist by Luisa’s hands.

Rose pulled back from the kiss laughingly. ‘Your kiss is so amazing my clothes just spontaneously fall to the floor.’

Luisa groaned softly. ‘It’s a good thing you are pretty because humor is not your strong suit.’

‘What are you talking about, I am hilarious,’ Rose said, trying to sound upset but she couldn’t keep the smile off her face.

‘No you’re not, but that’s okay,’ Luisa said, nuzzling the skin between Rose’s shoulder and neck softly. ‘I like you anyway.’

Rose smiled softly at the sentiment. She could probably stand here forever, just holding Luisa like this. But her dress was going to wrinkle if she kept it like this.

‘Lu, can I change out of this dress?’

‘No, I am not going to let you go,’ Luisa murmured, tightening her grip.

‘I’ll make you dinner,’ Rose tried, kissing the top of Luisa’s head. ‘Come on,’ she said softly, freeing herself from Luisa’s embrace.

Luisa nodded and released Rose, quietly taking a seat at the edge of the bed as Rose finished changing into something more comfortable.

‘Hey, are you okay?’ Rose asked, kneeling down in front of Luisa, taking the brunette’s hands in her own. She had noticed Luisa was watching her but not really _seeing_ her.

‘What? Yeah, I’m fine,’ Luisa said, looking down at their linked hands.

‘Your brother’s surprise wedding is bothering you, isn’t it?’ Rose asked, stroking a lock of hair behind Luisa’s ear.

‘I just can’t believe he didn’t tell me,’ Luisa sighed.

Rose nodded. She and her half-brother weren’t really close. They hadn’t really grown up together like Luisa and Rafael had. So honestly it wouldn’t surprise her all that much if Derek did spring a surprise wedding on her like this, and she doubted she would care. But Luisa had a much closer familial bond with her brother and his actions had obviously hurt her.

‘Come on,’ Rose said, pulling Luisa to her feet. ‘I am making you a cup of tea and then you can tell me about it.’

‘That’s really not necessary, I don’t want to bother you with it. It’s stupid.’

‘It’s not stupid and it _is_ bothering you so I want you to bother me with it. I always vent to you about Leon, so you can vent to me about this, about anything really.’

Rose sat Luisa down at the kitchen counter and set about making a cup of tea for the unusually subdued brunette.

‘Here you go, now tell me what got you upset,’ Rose said, sitting down next to Luisa, putting a comforting hand on Luisa’s knee.

Luisa wrapped her hands around the steaming mug of tea and took a deep breath before looking up at Rose.

‘You know Raf and I used to be pretty close, right? So I can’t understand why he wouldn’t tell me he had plans to propose, how he didn’t call me after to tell me she had said yes. I could have helped plan the wedding or done something at least. Now I only found out there _was_ a wedding was from the official wedding invite. Like I am some far-off cousin and not his sister. We promised each other we wouldn’t do this, not like our father always does. Just announce a wedding a month in advance and expect us to be okay with it. It’s just, I don’t know. I guess we’ve grown apart and I don’t like it.’

Rose thought a moment before speaking, she wasn’t great at giving advice in situations like this. But she knew she had to say something besides “that sucks” which wouldn’t bring any comfort to Luisa.

‘I am sure Rafael is not going to turn out like your father.’ From what Rose had heard of Luisa, her father was currently on his 6th wife and Luisa hadn’t even met her newest stepmother. ‘I am sure he didn’t mean to leave you out of the loop like this. He might be so in love it is all he could think about.’ She squeezed Luisa’s knee again, hoping that would bring more comfort than her clumsy speech.

Luisa smiled, it was small but Rose counted it as a smile. ‘Rafael always did have great taste in women,’ she grinned.

Rose laughed. ‘And I am sure he will love your input on the wedding, and if he doesn’t you can always give a speech about how he got attacked by seven ducks when he was nine.’

Luisa laughed and Rose took that as a good sign.

‘I’m sure it will be fine, you’ll see him Wednesday and get to knock him upside the head for not telling you.’

‘And I get to show you off, so that’s a bonus.’

‘You’re both adults now, Luisa. The contact was bound to waiver a bit. You have a busy life; he has a busy life. It perfectly normal. But that doesn’t mean you don’t get to be upset about it.’

‘You’re weirdly good at this,’ Luisa smiled, taking a sip of her tea, pulling a face. ‘Better than you are at making tea.’

‘How could I have messed up making a cup of tea?’ Rose asked laughingly, kisses Luisa on the cheek before getting up and actually getting started on dinner.

‘Too strong,’ Luisa laughed, pushing the cup away from her.

‘Well, let’s hope dinner turns out better than your tea.’

‘We can always order take-out,’ Luisa smiled.

‘Never,’ Rose grinned, happy Luisa was smiling again.

>>>> 

‘Well, your cooking is definitely better than your tea-making,’ Luisa said as she pushed her empty plate away from her.

‘Thank god for that,’ Rose laughed, rinsing the plates before putting them in the sink to wash later.

‘Do you need any help with that?’ Luisa asked, motioning to the sink.

‘No, I’ll do it tomorrow. Right now I should probably get a look at those cases Leon dumped on me just before I left work,’ Rose sighed, brushing her hand against Luisa’s shoulder in passing.

‘So I should probably go then.’

‘I don’t want you to go, but watching me work is not the most interesting thing you could be doing tonight.’

‘I don’t have any other, more interesting plans, but I wouldn’t want to distract you. You need your focus to kick Leon’s ass.’

‘You’re saying you would distract me from my work?’ Rose grinned, pulling the files from her bag.

‘Not intentionally,’ Luisa said, smiling widely.

‘Come here,’ Rose said, putting her files to the side for a moment. She and Luisa had both had a bad day and she was not going to let Leon’s crappy casefiles make it any worse by getting between them tonight. She pulled Luisa to her feet and led her to the couch.

‘What’s the plan here, Rose?’ Luisa laughed as Rose sat down on the couch, pulling Luisa into her lap.

‘We are going to make out a little before I get back to work. I don’t want you to go home yet.’

‘I like this plan.’ Luisa grinned, her hands coming up to cradle Rose’s face, her thumbs stroking her cheekbones before she leaned in for a kiss.

Rose’s hands had started on Luisa’s waist, but as the kiss deepened and grew in heat, she pulled Luisa’s green blouse out of her pants and moved her hands up underneath the brunette’s shirt, feeling her soft, warm skin underneath her palms.

Luisa moaned and tugged softly on Rose’s hair.

Rose changed positions so she was flat on her back, Luisa resting on top of her.

The change in positions caused Rose’s hands to end up on Luisa’s ass, entirely accidental of course. And never one to be out-done, Luisa moved her hands down to cup Rose’s breasts over her shirt.

‘We should probably stop,’ Rose sighed breathlessly, reluctantly pulling away from the kiss.

‘Why?’ Luisa whined, nipping at Rose’s bottom lip in protest.

‘Because if we go any further, you are going to end up spending the night and I won’t have gotten any work done.’

Luisa pouted. ‘You know what they say about all work and no play, don’t you?’ Luisa murmured against the skin of Rose’s neck, kissing it softly between words.

‘Yes, I do. And believe me when I say I have been thinking about unbuttoning that blouse all day,’ Rose said, tracing her finger down the V of Luisa’s shirt. ‘But I might have to appear in court tomorrow and I can’t show up empty handed with no defense.’

‘Remind me to punch Leon next time I see him, this is all his fault,’ Luisa sighed, shifting slightly so Rose could sit up.

‘At least he’s not my mother.’

‘I doubt that could be any worse,’ Luisa sighed. ‘At least your mother’s interruptions left us with enough time to make out after.’

‘Well, for what it’s worth, I want to punch him too, but it is better and less illegal if I just do my job.’

‘Fine,’ Luisa sighed. ‘Just don’t work too hard, okay?’ Luisa said as she got up, pulling Rose with her towards the door.

‘I won’t, I’ll just read and organize them.’

Luisa looked at her skeptically.

‘I will, promise,’ Rose laughed. It was nice to have someone care about her.

‘Good, thank you for dinner and your support on the Rafael/wedding thing, now get to work,’ Luisa said, kissing Rose on the lips one last time.

‘Get home safe,’ Rose grinned, she couldn’t resist making the joke.

‘Terrible!’ Luisa laughed, shaking her head as she disappeared up the stairs.

Rose was still smiling when she opened the first casefile, Luisa’s kiss lingering on her lips, the memory of Luisa’s smile making her feel calm and happy; it didn’t last long.

After reading through all ten cases, Rose could hardly stifle a stream of frustrated groans.

Leon really knew how to pick them; all ten of them were impossible to win DUI’s or vandalism perpetrated by rich kids. Most clients planned to plead out, which, while hell for her win/loss ratio, was the least of her worries.

About three of “her” clients refused to plead guilty which meant she had to come up with an actual defense for a drunk driver who had been doing 50 in a school zone at 8 AM, a 17-year-old boy who had set his teacher’s car on fire and another impossible DUI. Two of them went to court _tomorrow_.

She was going to kill Leon. She didn’t have the time to prepare a half-decent defense and the evidence against them was staggering. She could already imagine the ADA’s smug smile as Rose had to conclude her opening statement with something along the lines of: “My client was drinking and driving because he is a dick but he promised not to do it again.” Because that was all she had at her disposal at the moment.

Rose sighed and set to work drafting an opening statement for the DUI case, she couldn’t just show up emptyhanded, even if it was certain she would lose. It just wasn’t in her nature.

* * *

Rose groaned, rubbing her painfully stiff neck as she tried to get rid of the disorientation sleep had left her with.

Slowly she realized why her surroundings seemed so unfamiliar; she had fallen asleep at the kitchen table while working.

Rose slowly stood up, moving to open the front door as it sounded like someone was trying to knock it down.

‘’Morning,’ Rose greeted groggily.

‘You didn’t go to bed,’ Luisa said; it wasn’t a question. The fact that Rose was still wearing yesterday’s clothes was a dead give-away.

‘It appears I must have fallen asleep at a right angle,’ Rose sighed, all her muscles felt stiff and her neck was killing her. ‘What are you doing up?’

‘It is seven AM. I feared you might have slept through your alarm when you didn’t respond to my text. Although this is far worse.’

‘Shit, I have court in an hour,’ Rose said, suddenly wide awake upon hearing the time.

‘I’ll make coffee, you go shower,’ Luisa said.

‘Thank you, you are an angel,’ Rose smiled, kissing Luisa quickly before dashing towards bathroom. Just catching Luisa’s ‘you’d do the same for me’ before she closed the door.

After a quick shower, two cups of coffee and a fried egg Luisa almost had to force-feed her while Rose poured over her case notes, Rose felt a little less like a zombie.

‘Can you do lunch?’ Luisa asked as they walked down the stairs of their building together.

‘No, sorry,’ Rose said, chugging another cup of coffee. ‘I finished with this case at about 2 this morning, and then fell asleep halfway through my opening statement for the second one. I’ll have a working lunch at the court house.’

‘I will kill Leon,’ Luisa said, brushing their lips together in a quick kiss.

‘I will help you bury the body,’ Rose smiled. ‘Thank you for waking me, you saved my ass.’

‘Just make sure your ass eats something at lunch.’

Rose didn’t hear her, her mind already in the courtroom.

* * *

‘Here, eat,’ Sarah said, throwing a donut on top of Rose’s notes.

Rose moved the sticky donut to the side and continued writing.

‘Rose, I promised your girlfriend I would watch you eat the whole thing and I do not want her to come after me for returning you to her malnourished and overworked.’

‘What?’ Rose asked, finally looking up, noticing Sarah for the first time. ‘Oh, Sarah, hi.’

‘Wow, Luisa was right to text me. Eat that,’ she pointed at the donut, ‘take a break, and text your girlfriend.’

‘Luisa texted you?’ Rose asked, taking a bite out of the donut.

‘You weren’t answering your phone,’ Sarah said, sitting down next to Rose.

‘I never turned it back on after court,’ Rose groaned, having managed to accidentally ignore Luisa’s texts for two days in a row now.

‘Don’t worry about it, she knows you are busy, we already made a pact to stuff Leon’s locker with rotting fish.’

‘We don’t have lockers,’ Rose said, taking another bite of her donut as she switched her phone back on.

‘It’s the sentiment that counts,’ Sarah muttered, breaking a piece of the donut and popping it into her mouth.

Rose smiled as she read the first of the seven messaged Luisa had sent her throughout the day.

Luisa <3<3<3 @ 7:59 AM  
Good luck! You won’t need it, I’m sure!

Luisa <3<3<3 @ 11:47 AM  
Is court still in session? Is that how you say that? I haven’t watched Judge Judy in a while…

Luisa <3<3<3 @ 12:01 PM  
Don’t forget to eat lunch!

Luisa<3<3<3 @ 12:03 PM  
You are not getting these, are you?

Luisa<3<3<3 @ 12:03 PM  
You forgot to turn your phone back on, of course. Rose, you are way too independent from your phone. It’s the 21st century, get with the times!

Luisa<3<3<3 @ 12:10 PM  
I sent Sarah your way with food.

Luisa<3<3<3 @ 12:16 PM  
Sarah just texted me she found you, how did court go?

Rose smiled as she read that, momentarily forgetting about the dreadful day she’d had. Luisa was way too good a girlfriend.

Still smiling, she dialed Luisa’s number, wanting to hear her voice for a bit before her afternoon court session started.

‘Hey,’ Rose said as the other end of the line was picked up.

‘Rose! I’m so glad you called! How did court go?’

‘I lost. Jury only took 15 minutes to come back with a verdict. My client was not happy.’

‘Not your fault. There was nothing you could have done.’

‘I know, maybe I’ll get lucky with the next one. The evidence is a little shakier. There is some room to poke holes.’

‘Lucky has nothing to do with it; you’re great at your job.’

‘Thank you, you are too nice. I saw your texts.’

‘Stop it, you did the same for me yesterday. Did Sarah feed you?’

Rose laughed, making Sarah look her way. ‘She gave me a donut, well, half a donut, she just ate the other half.’

‘It is something I guess.’ Rose could hear Luisa sigh over the line.

‘I promise to pick up a salad or something when I return to the office later.’

‘You’re going to the office _after_ court ends?’

‘I have to prepare another couple of cases and meet some clients this afternoon.’

‘Wow, Leon really screwed you over.’

‘Yeah, it’s fine though. It’s all just really last minute. And it beats working for my mother in Tampa.’

Luisa made some sort of non-committal noise. ‘We can reschedule the family dinner if you’re busy tomorrow.’

Rose cursed mentally. In all her work-related stress she had sort of forgotten she had said yes to dinner with Luisa’s family the next night. And that made her a terrible girlfriend. Luisa was so helpful and supportive and Rose couldn’t even remember to turn her phone back on. All they talked about was Leon and Rose’s problems at work, while Luisa was going through something big as well.

‘No, no. Tomorrow evening is fine. Seriously, I want to meet your family.’

‘You sure? We can always cancel. That’s how most of our family dinners end up anyway: cancelled.’

‘Today is just busy, that’s all. I’ll handle it today and make sure I have tomorrow evening completely free to spend with you and your family. You have to meet your brother’s fiancée. But right now I really do have some notes to go over before the next trial starts.’

‘Of course, you’ll win this one! I’m sure of it. I’ll see you tonight?’

‘Yes, I’m looking forward to it,’ Rose smiled before hanging up. The signoff felt a little inadequate. Rose would have liked to end it with “I love you” but it felt too soon, even if Luisa was the best girlfriend she ever could have hoped for.

‘Luisa is too good for you, Ryan never texted one of my colleagues to check if I was eating properly.’

‘I wouldn’t call half a donut “properly”, but I know she’s amazing,’ Rose said, small smile playing around her lips as she went back to her notes. She had a good feeling about this one. She might actually win this if she played her cards right.

* * *

After Rose left the courtroom that afternoon, the first thing she did was turn her phone back on. Forgetting to do so thrice in two days would make her a very terrible girlfriend indeed. She typed a text to Luisa as she crossed the street to get another cup of coffee and something to eat.

Rose @ 3:23 PM  
I am glad to inform you I won the case and that I am just on my way to get something more substantial to eat than half a donut.

Luisa’s reply came a couple of minutes later, just as Rose sat down to eat.

Luisa<3<3<3 @ 3:29 PM  
So proud of you! Both of your win (told you so) and the food! I will make sure to great you extra celebratory tonight.

Rose @ 3:29 PM  
Enough about me, how’s your day? I feel terrible for not having asked you that earlier.

Luisa<3<3<3 @ 3:30 PM  
It’s okay, you’re busy J My day is fine, uneventful. Women are still pregnant; babies are still getting born. The usual.

Rose @ 3:30 PM  
So no paperwork today?

Luisa<3<3<3 @ 3:30 PM  
No, none. But I do have a patient that would quite like me to go over the results of her echo with her, so I’ll see you tonight!

Rose smiled and put her phone away, determined to finish up her work and get home in time to meet Luisa in the hallway.

Of course it didn’t turn out like that. There were still 13 cases she needed to get through. She might not have court tomorrow, but she was supposed to present her plan of defense to two of her clients. And in a meeting today, one of her clients, against her express advice, decide to reject the very good deal the DA had offered him and now Rose had to come up with a defense for him too. Which was of course her job, it was just the fact that these particular cases had been Leon’s job first and now Rose had to jump through hoops to come up with any form of a defense.

So at 5:20 PM Rose picked up her phone to tell Luisa she wasn’t going to be home in time to get their mail.

‘You can just bring it by when you get home,’ Luisa said cheerily.

‘I will,’ Rose promised. Setting an alarm so she would go home at a decent hour and she could at least kiss Luisa before going to bed.

* * *

‘You look exhausted,’ Luisa said as she opened her door to Rose a couple hours later.

‘I don’t feel exhausted,’ Rose smiled, wrapping her arms around Luisa’s neck and pulling her in for a kiss. And Luisa did indeed make it worth the wait.

‘How much coffee have you had today?’ Luisa asked when she pulled away from the kiss.

‘Probably more than FDA guidelines recommend,’ Rose shrugged.

Luisa laughed. ‘Been there, done that.’

‘But did you get the t-shirt?’ Rose grinned, handing Luisa her mail and collapsing on the brunette’s couch.

‘Come in,’ Luisa smiled as she closed the door.

‘I wanted to talk with you about tomorrow,’ Rose said. ‘ _And_ I wanted to hold you for a bit.’

‘So no more work tonight?’ Luisa asked, sitting down next to Rose, pulling the redhead’s arm tightly around her shoulders.

‘Nope, I’m done. At least till Thursday. So my evening tomorrow is all free to spend with you and your family,’ Rose said, kissing the top of Luisa’s head.

‘So Leon behaved today?’

‘Probably not, but I haven’t seen him. But no more talk about my work. How was your evening?’

‘My father called, he’s getting a divorce,’ Luisa said, Rose couldn’t detect any emotion or surprise in that statement.

‘Oh, so he won’t be at the dinner tomorrow?’

‘He will, he’s bringing his girlfriend,’ Luisa sighed, resting her head on Rose’s shoulder.

‘That’s fast.’

‘Yeah, that’s my dad. I haven’t even _met_ his last wife.’

‘How long where they married?’ Rose asked, combing her fingers through Luisa’s hair, stifling a yawn. Not wanting Luisa to think she was uninterested in her family problems.

‘I am not sure, January maybe, February possibly. They eloped, there wasn’t a big wedding.’

‘So about 9 months.’

‘Mmh, not even one of his shorter marriages. But enough about my dad, you’ll see enough of him tomorrow.’

‘We will,’ Rose said, her eyes getting heavy, Luisa’s presence was really very calming and the exhaustion was setting in.

‘And they will see you too.’ Luisa smiled up Rose. ‘Rafael will probably give you the protective big brother speech. My father will definitely like you as you’re a lawyer. Which is an occupation he approves off.’

‘Lu,’ Rose hummed softly. ‘Not that your family is boring, but I am about to fall asleep and should probably go home.’

‘Or you can stay here, and sleep in a bed with me so you know what is on the line tomorrow evening at dinner,’ Luisa grinned, idly playing with the buttons of Rose’s shirt.

‘Too tired to argue with you.’ Rose yawned through her smile as she said it.

‘How do you win any cases?’ Luisa asked.

‘Irresistible charm,’ Rosa said.

Luisa laughed. ‘You are pretty irresistible, so I think you’re going to have to borrow one of my t-shirts or I won’t be able to keep my hands to myself.’

Rose smiled, ‘If you set your alarm a little earlier tomorrow morning we can shower together.’

‘Put this on,’ Luisa said as she threw a shirt at Rose. ‘And we are definitely getting up earlier tomorrow morning,’ she said appreciatively as Rose took off her shirt and bra to but the soft cotton shirt Luisa had just given her on.

‘It smells like you,’ Rose said happily as she slipped under the covers, patting the space next to her.

‘You know it is like ten PM, right?’ Luisa laughed as she changed out of her own clothes anyway.

‘A very reasonable time to go to bed,’ Rose said, stifling another yawn.

Luisa shook her head and climbed into bed next to Rose.

Rose immediately moved over and rested her head on Luisa’s lap.

‘There is a pillow on your side of the bed, you know?’

‘I know, you’re just a better pillow…’ Rose trailed off, her eyes already closed. It wasn’t an “I love you” but it was all Rose could say before falling into a deep sleep while Luisa petted her hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is the dinner, I promise. I just needed to write some mindless fluff first, which I hope didn't bore you all to tears and/or give you a cavity from how sweet it was.
> 
> Comments are always welcome, so are gentle encouragements that remind me to be a more functional human being that regularly updates.
> 
> Thank you for reading and for sticking with this story!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo....
> 
> It's been a month (again, I am so sorry, I am terrible at updating and I know it, I am trying to better myself, honestly) so to make up for it have an extra long chapter with the promise that I won't let this go un-updated for a month again. 
> 
> I finally got to the dinner though and trust me when I say drama is coming.
> 
> Enjoy the long chapter, and I hope it makes up a little for my terrible updating skills.

Rose woke that morning from a deep, dreamless sleep. Feeling much better than she had last night. Blinking her eyes open, she noticed her bedroom was lighter than usual. She furrowed her brows, trying to remember last night. Sometimes exhaustion was better than alcohol when it came to recalling the night before.

Slowly, the memories started to flood back and Rose realized why her room was so much lighter than it should be: this wasn’t her room. She had fallen asleep in Luisa’s bed, but when she turned onto her side, the sheets were turned back and Luisa was nowhere to be found.

Rose rubbed her eyes and searched for her phone to check the time. The light suggested it was at least early morning and she seemed to remember parts of a promise to shower together.

5:53 AM, not very early considering she usually got up at 6:30, but not late enough for Luisa, who was definitely not a morning person, to be up and about.

Sitting up, Rose ran a hand through her hair, deciding that finding Luisa was more important than getting another 30 minutes of sleep.

Rose smiled as she languidly stretched her arms out above her head. The soft cotton of Luisa’s shirt riding up quite high as she did so. She hadn’t noticed last night, but apart from smelling deliciously like Luisa, the shirt was also definitely Luisa-sized. So even when she lowered her arms, there was still a decent strip of stomach visible above her underwear.

Rose grinned as she realized that Luisa had probably tossed her this shirt especially for that reason, because while Luisa was petite, this shirt would definitely be too small on the brunette as well.

The smell of coffee and frying eggs and bacon hit her as soon as she opened the bedroom door. She followed the pops of oil and the gurgling of the coffeemaker to the kitchen where she found Luisa softly humming along with the radio, cooking breakfast.

‘Good morning,’ Rose greeted, her voice deep, still rough from sleep.

‘Good morning,’ Luisa said, her eyes slowly panning up from Rose’s bare legs to her exposed midriff, resting there a second before meeting her eyes.

‘It’s a little early for breakfast, don’t you think?’ Rose sauntered over to the kitchen counter, stealing a strip of bacon from a plate and biting off a piece.

‘It is,’ Luisa grinned, smacking Rose’s hand away before she could sneak another strip of bacon off the plate.

‘But?’ Rose asked, her hand rubbing up and down Luisa’s back underneath her shirt.

‘But I thought I could better prepare it now, before I got into the shower with you, so we have something to eat as we dash off to work.’

‘Mmh, smart thinking,’ Rose grinned, brushing her lips against the soft skin of Luisa’s neck.

‘Almost done,’ Luisa said, her voice wavering a little as Rose sucked lightly on the pulse point underneath her jaw.

‘Hurry up,’ Rose murmured, moving her hand from Luisa’s back to her stomach, stroking the skin just above the edge of her underwear.

Luisa slid the eggs onto a plate and places and upside-down bowl on top of it to prevent them from getting cold too quickly.

As soon as Luisa’s hands were free from kitchen equipment, Rose spun her around and kissed her deeply. Luisa tasted of coffee and sugar. The only way she drank her coffee in the morning, being more of a tea person but needing the caffeine.

‘Good morning,’ Rose hummed as she pulled back enough to look at Luisa.

‘So I take it you are feeling less tired?’ Luisa smiled, pressing a mug of coffee into Rose’s hands.

‘Your mattress is like a cloud,’ Rose smiled, taking a sip of her coffee.

Luisa raised one eyebrow, obviously not amused by Rose’s answer.

‘And your pillows are even better.’ Rose’s smile now a full on grin. ‘And I feel like I should thank you for that, _really_ thank you.’ She released Luisa and took a couple of steps backwards towards to bathroom.

Luisa watched her, leaning casually against the counter, not betraying any intent to follow.

Rose grinned, throwing a wink Luisa’s way before spinning around on her toes, taking her shirt off in one quick move and throwing it in Luisa’s direction.

‘You coming?’ Rose asked, disappearing through the bathroom door, hearing Luisa’s footsteps fast behind her.

‘Don’t tease,’ Luisa nearly growled, throwing Rose’s crumpled-up shirt on the ground.

‘Never,’ Rose smiled, turning the shower on. The thunderous roar of the water obscuring the noise of Luisa sneaking up on her, causing Rose to jump slightly when Luisa’s arms snaked around her waist.

Rose relaxed immediately after and turned around in Luisa’s arms, kissing her languidly as the water warmed up. As they were under a slight time restraint, Rose’s hands immediately moved to the hem of Luisa’s shirt, hoping to undress the brunette and get some skin-to-skin contact before they had to part ways to go to respective places of work.

In no time at all, they were both naked and standing under the warm spray of the shower. The cold shower wall at Rose’s back as Luisa’s hot mouth kissed and roamed across her upper body. Both of them once again grateful that Luisa’s shower was so tiny so they were all pressed up together.

Rose’s stress from the previous couple of days had already melted a great deal when she woke up that morning; a night sleeping all cuddled up with Luisa a great cure for anxieties brought on by Leon and her mother. But now Luisa was kissing her with clear intent and Rose felt every residual bit of stress ebb away as Luisa lowered down onto her knees, her mouth traversing the plane of Rose’s stomach.

‘This,’ Luisa started, lifting one of Rose’s legs over her shoulder, ‘is me thanking you for staying the night.’

Rose groaned, screwing her eyes closed as Luisa’s soft lips brushed over the highly sensitive skin of her thighs.

‘I was going to thank you for letting me stay,’ Rose managed to get out, her voice in a decidedly lower register. ‘For making me breakfast, for just being the best girlfriend _ever_.’ The last word came out as more of a hiss as Luisa picked that part of Rose’s little speech to flick her tongue lightly against the sensitive bundle of nerves at the apex of Rose’s sex.

Rose opened her eyes just enough to see Luisa grin widely before she buried her head between Rose’s thighs again and showed Rose her thanks that way.

* * *

Rose felt so completely relaxed as she wrapped one of Luisa’s white, fluffy, hotel-grade towels around her shoulders that it was hard for her to imagine that she still had a whole day of work ahead of her, not to mention a family dinner.

Luisa shut off the blow-dryer, having noticed that Rose was just standing in the middle of the bathroom, unmoving.

‘You might want to get dressed,’ Luisa suggested, touching Rose’s arm lightly, teasingly scratching her nails down to Rose’s wrist.

The touch shook Rose out of her quiet contemplation. Smiling at Luisa before she realized she did not have anything but her clothes from yesterday to change into.

‘Don’t worry,’ Luisa smiled, seemingly reading her mind. ‘I picked up some clothes from your apartment.’

Rose frowned and Luisa explained.

‘I borrowed your keys, I hope you don’t mind. I also didn’t pick something inappropriate for work if that is what you’re worrying about. Although, I do really want to see you in that black dress on the left side of your closet sometime.’

Rose smiled, cupping Luisa’s cheek and bringing her in for a kiss. ‘I don’t mind, you’re incredible. Thank you.’

‘No problem,’ Luisa smiled, standing up on her toes and pecking Rose on the lips again. ‘Now get dressed so we can have some breakfast sitting down.’

* * *

Rose tucked the forest green blouse Luisa had picked out into one of the only pairs of slacks she owned.

As she looked up, she caught Luisa staring at her again.

‘You really wanted to see me in pants, didn’t you?’ Rose laughed, taking the cup of coffee from Luisa’s hand, stealing a sip of too sweet coffee.

‘And I was right to; you look amazing. Not that you don’t look nice in skirts or dresses. It is just, wow,’ Luisa marveled, her eyes freely roaming, taking in every little detail about Rose’s outfit.

Rose laughed, kissing Luisa’s cheek before sitting down. ‘You look amazing, too.’

‘So how are you feeling today?’ Luisa asked as they started on their now cold breakfast.

‘Good, relaxed, ready to kick Leon’s ass. Thanks to you.’

‘And how do you feel about tonight?’ Luisa asked, suddenly pretending to be very interested in her eggs.

Rose bit her lip, she was not sure how she felt about tonight. She had never really done the whole “meet the parents” thing before, and she was a little nervous about it, even if the outcome of the dinner most likely wouldn’t really change anything.

‘A little nervous,’ Rose answered truthfully. ‘But not nervous enough not to show up, so don’t worry about that.’

‘ _I_ might not show up,’ Luisa sighed, stabbing her egg with her fork so the yolk ran across her plate.

‘If you don’t want to go, we don’t have to. But I thought you wanted to meet your brother’s fiancée, you were quite upset you hadn’t met her before.’

‘I do want to meet her. It’s just… If it was just her and Rafael it would be fine, but my father is going to be there. With his new girlfriend, and probable wife number seven. And he should do what he wants of course, it is just, he is so critical about everyone else. And I like you, a lot, and I don’t want to subject you to that, and risk scaring you off, you mean too much to me.’

Luisa’s voice didn’t waiver, but by the way she was tearing apart her egg and avoiding eye contact, Rose knew she was upset.

‘After meeting my mother, I think I do not have any right to run screaming for the hills. So I’ll be there tonight and no matter what happens, I’ll be there tomorrow. But if you don’t want to, let’s not go,’ she said, putting her hand on Luisa’s knee, squeezing comfortingly.

‘No, I am not going to let my father come between me and Rafael again. I’ll go, and who knows, maybe his new girlfriend might have a positive influence on him.’

‘Okay, we’ll go,’ Rose smiled, kissing Luisa’s cheek, catching just a little of her upper lip. Before Luisa could turn her head to turn the peck into a proper kiss, Rose spotted the time and pulled back. ‘Speaking of going, we should get to work.’

Luisa looked at her watch, her eyes widening as she realized the time.

‘That was a _long_ shower.’

‘It was a great shower as well,’ Rose grinned, quickly finishing her breakfast before drawing Luisa to her feet. ‘Let’s go.’

* * *

Rose spent the cab ride over going through the casefiles she’d neglected the night before because of her impromptu sleepover with Luisa.

She licked her lips, finding the faintest trace of Luisa’s Chapstick still lingering there. Her hand subconsciously went to her collarbone. Right underneath the collar of her blouse, there was a blooming purple mark, courtesy of Luisa.

The thought that there were still some physical reminders of Luisa lingering on her body made Rose strangely happy.

She was still smiling to herself when she bumped into Sarah in front of her office.

Sarah, always observant, immediately noted the change from the zombie-like coworker she had left to work overtime the night before, to the smiling woman currently standing in front of her.

‘You and Luisa spent the night together.’ It wasn’t a question.

‘Good morning, Sarah,’ Rose said, her smile not faltering as she made herself a cup of coffee.

‘And how good was your morning exactly? When I last saw you, you were barely hanging on. And now you’re smiling and looking ready to do a photoshoot.’

‘I am feeling better today, yes,’ Rose said, still dancing around the issue. ‘I got a full 8 hours of sleep.’

Sarah narrowed her eyes, watching Rose carefully, her suspicion rising.

Just as Rose was about to tell Sarah the truth, one of their colleagues turned up the TV and a very familiar but unwelcome voice echoed through the small room.

Rose groaned and stalked away, she didn’t care what pre-trial motions Elena had submitted and subsequently won. Today she wanted nothing to do with any more parents.

Sarah, annoyed she hadn’t been able to get a straight answer out of Rose, followed her to her office.

‘If you won’t tell me, I’ll just ask Luisa, and she is _way_ more forthcoming than you are anyway,’ Sarah said, playing her trump card.

Rose sighed, placing her bag on her desk. ‘I don’t know how I feel about you being such good friends with my girlfriend.’ Rose hid her smile by pretending to focus on the files she was pulling from her bag.

‘Just tell me, Ryan left on a trip yesterday so I am living vicariously through you.’

‘Fine,’ Rose sighed, closing the door before talking about Luisa, not wanting Leon to get another look of something he shouldn’t. ‘I went to see Luisa’s last night when I went home. I had intended it to just be a goodnight kiss, but we talked a little and after almost falling asleep on her couch, she took me to bed and I spent the night. And after a full 8 hours of sleep she made me breakfast. That’s it,’ Rose finished with a smile.

Sarah narrowed her eyes but didn’t voice her thoughts, instead moving onto the next subject.

‘So, are you ready to meet the parents?’

‘As ready as I will ever be,’ Rose sighed.

‘Been there, honey. But you’re a nice, gorgeous, successful lawyer so I don’t know how any parent could not like you.’

‘I doubt I would describe myself as “successful” right now. My win/loss ratio is steadily declining, I am not working on anything good, and my boss pulled whatever interesting cases I was working on because he didn’t think I could handle it.’

‘And none of that is your fault. Leon is just a jealous prick who can’t take no for an answer.’

‘Luisa almost backed out of it this morning.’

‘What? Why?’

‘Her dad, I have the feeling they don’t really get along. I am pretty sure something happened between them, but I didn’t want to pry.’

Sarah nodded. ‘Parent/child relationships are some of the most complicated out there. Just give Luisa a hug from me when you see her tonight.’

‘I will. Oh, and Sarah?’

‘Yes?’ The blonde turned around in the doorway.

‘Lunch is on me today, I have been laying all my problems on you lately, so it is only fair you get to bounce your frustrations off me for a while.’

‘My life is boring; I would rather talk about that rather interesting looking hickey on you neck.’

‘What?’ Rose yelped, hurriedly adjusting her collar.

‘Not that one, the one on the underside of you jaw.’ Sarah indicated the spot on her own neck.

Rose groaned; she was going to have a talk with Luisa about leaving hickeys in such visible places.

‘I have some cover-up you can use. It is probably a little dark for you, because you are the palest person in Florida by far, but it is better than nothing,’ Sarah grinned.

‘Thank you,’ Rose sighed.

‘You can tell me about what caused those lovely hickeys in return.’

‘You drive a hard bargain.’

‘That is how you get things done.’

* * *

As Rose waited for Sarah to finish ordering for the both of them, she turned on her phone, wanting to send Luisa a message.

She smiled as she would for once be the one to send the first message.

Rose @ 11:57 AM  
Thank you for warning me about the hickeys.

Luisa’s response was almost instantaneous.

Luisa<3<3<3 @ 11:57 AM  
I thought your shirt covered it pretty well?

Rose @ 11:58 AM  
Not the one I am talking about…

Luisa<3<3<3 @ 11:58 AM  
I’m sorry. The other one was way too high up your neck. Not appropriate. I should have told you, sorry.

Rose @ 11:58 AM  
It’s okay, a little warning before leaving the building would have be nice though. So I could at least bring a scarf instead of being forced to borrow Sarah’s cover-up. Which comes at the price of our secrets.

Luisa<3<3<3 @ 11:59 AM  
Sorry for getting you in trouble with Sarah. Anyone else giving you a hard time today?

Rose told Luisa about her mother’s short appearance on the TV that morning, how she had made so headway in her cases and how Leon had thankfully kept his distance.

In return, Luisa told her a little bit about her morning at the clinic. The topic of the impending dinner was suspiciously absent and Rose was not about to bring it up.

Eventually Sarah demanded her attention and Rose sent Luisa one last text that she would her tonight.

* * *

Rose spotted Luisa as soon as she exited the cab. Her girlfriend was sitting on the bottom step of the stairs, talking into her phone.

She waved at Luisa as she stepped through the front door, the brunette smiled and motioned for her to wait a minute.

Rose caught some snippets of the conversation Luisa was having with, apparently, her brother, as Rose opened both of their mailboxes and got their mail.

‘… we’ll see the two of you tonight, yes, yes she is still coming. No, you haven’t scared her off yet. I know. See you,’ Luisa said as she hung up the phone.

‘Were you waiting for long?’ Rose asked, pulling Luisa to her feet and into a light embrace.

‘No, not at all,’ Luisa smiled, running her finger across the pulse point on Rose’s neck, smearing the makeup so she could admire her handy-work that lay hidden underneath.

‘Was that your brother on the phone?’ Rose asked, still holding onto Luisa’s hand as they climbed the stairs.

‘Yes, he just wanted to make sure it was okay with us if he pushed the reservation by half an hour. I said it was, gives us more time to get ready.’

‘Where are we going anyway? What should I wear?’

‘Just what you would normally wear, it’s fancy but not black tie fancy. I would wear that red dress if I were you,’ Luisa grinned, looking up at Rose through her long, impossibly long, lashes.

Rose her lips curled up into a smile. ‘So what will you wearing?’

‘You’ll see,’ Luisa mused. ‘Now go get ready and I will see you later.’ She planted a quick kiss on Rose’s lips before climbing the remaining stairs to her apartment.

* * *

Throughout Rose’s quick shower and subsequent dressing up her nerves had steadily been building. She was sure she was making herself anxious over nothing, but this was her first time doing the meet-the-parents thing and it was _Luisa_ ’s father. And while they had not even been dating for a week, she already knew that Luisa meant too much to her to allow anything to come between them. So this dinner _had_ to go well.

She was just applying a final coat of cover-up on the hickeys on her neck and shoulder when there was a knock on her door. Rose quickly washed her hands and rushed to the door barefoot to let Luisa in.

‘Wow’ was the only thing that left Rose’s mouth as she stared at Luisa. She hadn’t seen Luisa in this particular dress before, but the seafoam green made her tanned skin seem more luminous than usual, her hair fell in messy ringlets across one bare shoulder and her heels made her almost as tall as Rose.

‘You look incredible,’ Rose said, a little breathless still as she let Luisa pass.

‘So do you,’ Luisa said, her eyes traversing the now familiar path up Rose’s body. ‘I really love that dress.’ Luisa stepped forward, her hands caressing the red fabric covering Rose’s waist.

Rose had decided to wear the red dress again. She had plenty of other dresses, even some other red ones, but this was Luisa’s favorite and by extension her favorite.

‘One of these days, I will have to wear another dress or people will think I only have one,’ Rose mused, stepping closer to Luisa, pulling her girlfriend into a loose embrace.

‘I don’t care. This is the only dress you need.’ Luisa’s thumbs were drawing circles on Rose’s hipbones so she tacitly agreed with Luisa’s statement.

‘We’re going to be late,’ Rose hummed. They had been standing in the hallway for a couple of minutes now, still tangled together.

‘Let’s go then,’ Luisa said, pecking Rose softly on the lips, careful not to smear her lipstick.

Rose put on her heels, Luisa pouting as the height difference between them became more pronounced again.

Rose raised an eyebrow in question; Luisa never had a problem with the height difference before.

‘Now I have to stand up on my toes again if I want to kiss you,’ Luisa explained.

Rose smiled, stepping out of her heels and walking into her bedroom, switching her stilettos for a pair of flats she rarely ever wore.

‘You don’t have to…’ Luisa protested weakly.

‘I want to. I like it when you kiss me. So the least I can do is facilitate it.’

Luisa grinned. ‘Just for tonight, I _really_ like you in heels too.’ Her gaze slowly moving up Rose’s legs.

‘Let’s go,’ Rose laughed, linked her hand with Luisa’s.

‘Let’s,’ Luisa said, making good use of the eliminated height difference to kiss Rose again.

* * *

During the drive to the restaurant both of the women became increasingly nervous, even if they showed it differently. Rose became quiet and twisted the ring around her finger almost continuously. Luisa talked about nothing, the topic of the weather had come up around three times now, but when the car stopped even Luisa fell silent.

‘This is it,’ she breathed, grabbing Rose’s hand as the exited the cab.

‘I’m sure it will be fine,’ Rose said encouragingly.

‘Let’s hope so,’ Luisa said, a strained smile on her face.

‘Ah, miss Alver, your brother is waiting for you and your lovely date on the terrace, follow me please,’ the smartly dressed waiter said.

‘You come here a lot?’ Rose asked, her voice lowered to a whisper.

‘You could say that,’ Luisa sighed, squeezing Rose’s hand.

Rose wanted to ask what Luisa’s cryptic words meant, but just at that moment a man Rose assumed was Luisa’s brother spotted them and called Luisa’s name.

‘Lu! Glad you could make it!’ he said, standing up to wrap his sister in a long, crushing hug.

Rose watched them carefully, waiting for them to break apart so she could introduce herself.

For siblings they didn’t look much alike, Rafael was taller and his meticulously tousled hair was much darker than his sister’s.

He was smiling and Rose could tell he was happy, as she guessed he should be, he was getting married after all.

Eventually, Luisa and Rafael broke apart, Luisa’s strained smile now much more relaxed.

‘You look well!’ he said.

‘So do you, being engaged agrees with you,’ Luisa smiled before punching her brother in the arm.

‘Hey!’ Rafael said, rubbing the spot where Luisa had just socked him. ‘What was that for?’

‘For making me find out you were getting married from the official wedding invite like I was cousin Maurice!’

‘We don’t have a cousin Maurice,’ Rafael smiled.

‘Even worse!’ Luisa grinned and Rose felt like she was being left out of an inside joke. ‘So anyway, where is the woman who finally got you to hang up your playboy polo?’

‘Fixing her make-up, I told her she looked incredible already but she wouldn’t listen, said she had to make a good impression on dad. And you of course. And what do you mean, playboy polo? I never had a playboy polo!’

‘Yes you did, don’t deny it. You had a whole bunch of them you wore with the collar popped like some kind of asshole, thousand dollar sunglasses dangling from the way too deep V.’

Rafael grinned. ‘Popped collars were cool then.’

‘If you were a playboy, yes,’ Luisa agreed.

‘So, are you going to introduce me?’ Rafael asked, his eyes finding their way over to Rose.

Rose, who had been watching the siblings banter with interest had forgotten no formal introduction had been made yet.

‘Hi, I’m Rose. Rose Evans,’ she said, hand outstretched.

‘Rafael Solano,’ Rafael said, shaking Rose’s hand with the practiced ease of a businessman. ‘Luisa’s brother in case she hasn’t mentioned me as much as she should have.’

Rose laughed. ‘You name came up now and again.’

‘All bad things, I assume.’

‘I would never,’ Luisa said, her grin telling a different story.

‘Let’s sit, Petra should be here shortly.’

‘When’s dad coming?’ Luisa asked, sitting down on the chair Rafael so graciously pulled out for her after he had done the same for Rose.

‘He’s here already, just a matter of time before he drags himself out of the office to chastise me for all the mistakes he undoubtedly thinks I’ve made after he put me in control of the hotel.’

The mood at the table dropped a little as both siblings fell silent at the mention of their father, giving Rose some time to catch up with the new information she’d just heard.

Suddenly the fact that the waiter had recognized Luisa by sight made sense: her brother was the hotel manager and her father probably the owner.

Rose looked around, the hotel was big, fancy and right at the beach. She had known Luisa came from money, only now she wondered just how much of it. Because a hotel like this…

She was shaken from her thoughts when a blonde woman neared their table and Rose could physically see Rafael’s eyes light up.

Rafael immediately stood up, Luisa and Rose following his lead.

She could see Luisa give the woman a once over, not in the same way she checked Rose out, more of seizing her up than anything else.

‘Luisa, Rose, this is my fiancée and the love of my life, Petra,’ Rafael said, kissing Petra on the cheek.

Petra smiled, the same loving smile Rafael had worn when he saw her, just a little more restrained.

‘Petra, this is my sister, Luisa, and her girlfriend, Rose.’

‘Nice to finally meet you,’ Petra said to Luisa. ‘Rafael has told me a lot about you,’ she said, hand outstretched.

‘All bad things, I assume,’ Luisa grinned, but Petra didn’t get the joke.

Instead of shaking it, Luisa ignored Petra’s outstretched hand and went in for a hug instead. ‘You’re going to be my sister-in-law, I think hugging is appropriate,’ Luisa said as she pulled away from a stunned but smiling Petra.

‘It’s nice to finally meet you, too,’ Luisa said, taking a step back so she could put her hand on the small of Rose’s back. The warmth of her touch spreading through Rose’s body through the thin material of her dress, her touch as electric as ever.

‘Hi,’ Rose said, stretching out her hand, not sure if Petra could handle another hug. ‘Nice to meet you.’

‘Likewise,’ Petra said, shaking Rose’s hand.

‘So, shall we order?’ Rafael said once everyone was seated again, Petra now across from Rose at the sizeable round table.

‘Shouldn’t we wait for your father?’ Petra asked, voicing what Rose had been thinking.

‘No,’ both Rafael and Luisa said at the same time.

‘It could be an hour before he shows up, if he shows up at all,’ Rafael said, waving over a waiter and excepting a menu from him as well as the wine card.

‘Would you like a drink, Rose?’ Rafael asked, looking up from his browsing.

‘Just water is fine, thank you,’ Rose said, smiling politely.

‘You know I don’t mind you drinking, right?’ Luisa said.

‘I know, but I have never been much for alcohol anyway, so why would I?’ Rose smiled. It was a tiny bit of a lie; she was certain she could identify most of the wines on the menu in Rafael’s hands by taste alone. But that was mostly because of her parents, besides, she cared more for Luisa than she did about any form of alcohol.

So Rafael ordered a glass of wine for himself and all the women at the table stuck to water, Petra included.

The first course was served soon after ordering and the usual rounds of “how did you meet and what do you do” had started.

Rose smiled as she saw Luisa interact with her brother; the bond Luisa had feared was gone obviously still there and the smile it put on Luisa’s face made Rose happy.

Suddenly Luisa fell silent mid-sentence and stared to the couple approaching them from the right. Rafael followed her line of sight and immediately stiffened as well.

The change in the atmosphere was so tangible Rose felt herself getting nervous again. Because the man approaching could only be Luisa’s father.

Rafael and Luisa both got to their feet, Rose and Petra following suit.

‘Dad,’ Rafael said, shaking his father’s hand in a strangely formal greeting.

‘Rafael,’ Emilio replied, a hint of an accent coloring his gruff voice.

‘Dad,’ Luisa said, pecking her father on the cheek.

‘Luisa,’ Emilio smiled, looking happy to see his daughter. As Luisa had informed her, it had been a while.

There was a short pause, as if no one was sure who was going to make the next move.

Then, the silence was broken by the woman who seemed to have glued herself to Emilio’s side as soon as Rafael and Luisa stepped away.

‘Aren’t you going to introduce me, darling?’ the woman said, she was heavily made up and her blonde curls were blown out and stiff with hairspray.

Rose estimated her to be around her own age, probably on the lower side as well. She was beautiful, but in a slightly artificial way. The term “trophy-wife” sprang to the front of her mind.

‘Of course, I was just getting to that,’ Emilio grinned, pulling the woman even closer to him.

‘Rafael, Luisa, this is Dahlia. Dahlia, my son and daughter and their girlfriends,’ Emilio said, more interested in Dahlia than anyone else.

‘Fiancée,’ Rafael interjected. ‘Petra’s my fiancée, dad.’

‘Right, of course,’ Emilio said, taking his time shifting his smile from Dahlia to Petra.

‘Nice to finally meet you, mister Solano,’ Petra said, shaking Emilio’s hand. ‘Petra Andel.’

‘Glad to see my son has come to his senses,’ Emilio said. He had probably meant it as a compliment, but the rest of the table was left guessing for the true meaning of his words, which sounded slightly disapproving towards Rafael.

Rafael frowned and he shot Luisa a look, which she returned with a shrug. Both of them obviously used to this.

The introductions continued, Rose getting a smile from Emilio as she shook his hand.

They all sat back down and Emilio and Dahlia ordered, but the relaxed atmosphere from before didn’t return.

Rafael and Luisa seemed to be having a silent conversation, both of them trying to get the other to open up and draw their father’s attention away from the low neckline his girlfriend was sporting.

For a second Rose was reliving the horrible nightmare of Elena setting her up on dates with men like Emilio, and she was currently imagining herself in Dahlia’s place.

She shivered, Luisa immediately putting her hand on Rose’s knee.

‘Are you okay?’ she asked softly.

Rose nodded, covering Luisa’s hand with her own, glad she was on this side of the table, next to Luisa instead of at Emilio’s side.

The dinner passed relatively uneventful, the moments Emilio wasn’t absorbed in his girlfriend were filled with question, both to his children and to Rose and Petra.

Emilio seemed to approve of the both of them, he nodded when Petra told him of her MBA and when Rose said she was a lawyer.

There was a brief discussion about her chosen field, criminal defense, when the real money was in corporate, according to what Emilio paid his lawyers at least.

The number was so exorbitant that Rose was once again questioning how rich Luisa really was.

All was going well. No more disapproving looks had been given, Emilio had even praised Rafael on how well he was doing with the Marbella, just some tiny flaws they would go over later in private. So all was well, until they hit dessert.

Emilio stood up, tapping his knife against his half empty glass of wine.

‘A toast! To Petra and Rafael, who is finally making something of himself. Took you long enough son!’

‘Thank you, dad,’ Rafael said, his smile a little strained, not sure if he should count this toast as a praise or as a criticism. Rose wasn’t sure either.

‘Now,’ Rafael continued, looking down at Petra, his smile becoming easier again. ‘we have some news of our own, Petra and I, we, we’re going to have a baby.’

Rafael was beaming, Petra smiling up at him.

Next to Rose, Luisa let out a soft gasp before jumping up and flying around the table to give her brother a hug.

‘Congratulations, Raf!’ Luisa smiled, kissing her brother on both cheeks. ‘And of course, you too, Petra,’ she said before hugging Petra too.

‘Congratulations,’ Rose smiled, Dahlia chiming in as well.

‘I’m going to be an aunt! Can you imagine?’ Luisa asked Rafael, her eyes sparkling happily.

‘I’m going to be a dad! That’s even crazier!’ Rafael smiled, his happiness dimming a bit as Emilio cleared his throat. He was the only one who hadn’t said anything yet.

‘Is that what this is about. Your shotgun marriage to this woman?’ Emilio asked. ‘You got her pregnant and now you’re rushing into a marriage?’

Rose could feel Luisa tense beside her, Luisa opened her mouth to say something but Rafael beat her to it.

‘Her name, _dad_ , is Petra. And I love her. _That’s_ why we’re getting married. The baby is just a bonus.’

‘How do you know she’s not after your money? You have always been so irresponsible,’ Emilio said, his voice flat and devoid of any emotion except disapproval.

Rose saw Petra stiffen across from her, and she felt sorry for the blonde. She didn’t know much about Petra, but nobody deserved this.

‘Dad,’ Luisa warned, her voice strained. Rose could hear the barely bitten back anger in her tone. ‘They’re having a baby. Could you at least pretend to be happy for them instead of making it about your damn money?’

‘You’re right it is mine. And I have it because I am careful. The two of you have never understood that. I paid for the best, invested in your futures and all you have done is find new ways to disappoint me.’

Rose felt the air get heavier around them, harder to breathe. She brushed her against Luisa’s, feeling her girlfriend’s hand balled tightly into a fist. She encircled Luisa’s wrist, hoping Luisa might draw some support out of the touch.

Rose had been in conversations like these with Elena more times than she could count, but never with anyone else there. So now she just wanted Luisa to know she _was_ there, and that she would support her.

‘Rafael runs the most successful hotel in Miami and I’m a doctor with my own clinic, dad,’ Luisa bit out, now truly losing her temper.

‘Your brother only has what he has because of me, and you are only still a doctor because of my interference. No other judge would have let you keep you license after your stint in rehab. After the malpractice suit.’

Where Luisa had been tense before, she suddenly deflated as her father’s words found their mark. She took one shuddering breath before getting up.

‘We’re leaving,’ she announced, her voice wavering a bit at the end.

Rose quickly got up, following her obviously distressed girlfriend out of the restaurant. She barely noticed the scraping of chairs behind her, announcing the departure of Rafael and Petra as well.

Luisa’s shoulders had started to shake as they walked through the restaurant out of the hotel.

‘I wanna go home,’ Luisa said, burying her face in Rose’s neck as she started crying in earnest.

Rose wrapped her arms tightly around Luisa’s shocking frame. Even with the height difference nearly eliminated, Luisa had never seemed so small. Her usual strong presence gone as she was reduced to sobs at her father’s pointed words.

‘Then let’s go home,’ Rose whispered into Luisa’s hair, kissing the side of her head softly as she hailed a cab, not letting go of Luisa for a second.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and I am feeling like a monster for making Luisa cry (on top of updating once a month I made my baby cry, I am a terrible person, honestly). I promise Rose will be the best girlfriend ever and give her lots of cuddles next chapter, but you all wanted drama so I created drama. 
> 
> If you liked it, please leave a comment. I know it may not seem like it, but they really help motivate me. Sometimes when I am stuck, I read through them and all your kind words do wonders to keep me going. So they really do help!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just couldn't stand them being sad for any longer, so I had to update!
> 
> This chapter is quite heavy, it references Luisa's former alcohol abuse and discusses a relapse, so please be warned!

Luisa clung to Rose during the cab ride, her shoulders still shocking as she hid her tears in Rose’s neck.

The cabdriver kept looking at them through the rearview mirror with concern but Rose silently told him that everything was alright.

But it wasn’t alright, of course it wasn’t alright.

Luisa was in tears because of what her father had said to her and it made Rose furious to think about. But anger was not what Luisa needed from her right now. So instead of cursing Emilio to hell and back, she rubbed soothing circles on Luisa’s back, trying to calm her down a little.

It was no use talking to Luisa while she was still sobbing, so Rose didn’t try. She just whispered soothing nothing into Luisa’s ear, kissing the top of her head. Letting her know that everything was going to be okay.

When the cab stopped in front of their building, Luisa sat up, harshly wiping at her eyes.

Rose paid the cabbie and watched Luisa with concern.

Luisa was quietly staring ahead. No longer actively crying, but her lip was still wobbling and the tear tracks on her face hadn’t yet dried.

‘Let’s go inside,’ Rose said softly, taking Luisa’s hand in her own.

Luisa nodded, following Rose outside, gripping her hand tightly.

Rose wanted to say something, but the hallway of their building was not the best place to start. So she had to wait a few minutes longer. Watch Luisa suffer in silence; a thousand thoughts swirling through her head, and if Rose had to guess, all of them were bad.

When they reached Rose’s floor, Luisa stopped walking.

‘I can’t,’ Luisa said, her voice soft and wavering as she stood unmoving on the third floor landing.

Rose stepped closer, wrapping her arms around Luisa again, hugging her tightly.

‘Can’t what, sweetheart?’ Rose asked.

‘Go home, I can’t, I -,’ Luisa sobbed, clinging to Rose.

‘Okay, shh, it’s okay. You can stay with me,’ Rose said, unlocking her own front door.

‘I – the – I…’ Luisa hiccupped, her arms hugged protectively around herself as she stood in the middle of the room.

‘Shh, you don’t have to talk, let’s just sit.’ Rose guided Luisa to the couch with a soft touch to her arm. ‘I’ll make some tea.’

Luisa nodded, kicking off her heels, drawing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

Rose watched Luisa from the kitchen as she made the fastest cup of tea in the world. She wished she could turn back time and spare Luisa all the pain she was currently in. But she couldn’t, the only thing she could do was to be there for Luisa now, in the present, while the brunette was hurting.

She poured the tea into two mugs and made her way back to the couch, putting the steaming mugs on the coffee table. Luisa hadn’t given any indication that she’d noticed Rose sitting down, still staring straight ahead.

‘Luisa?’ Rose asked, but she got no response.

The second time she accompanied the brunette’s name with a touch to her arm.

Luisa started, turning to face Rose, her eyes red and watery.

‘I’m sorry,’ Luisa said her voice high and unsteady.

‘You have nothing to be sorry for. Nothing,’ Rose said as she wrapped her arms around Luisa again.

‘Yes, I do. He was right.’

Rose didn’t pull back, only hugging Luisa tighter. ‘Your father was wrong.’

‘He wasn’t. He – I – I only still have a license to practice because of him. I would have lost it. I would have screwed it up. Like I screw everything up.’

‘You do not screw everything up, I don’t believe that,’ Rose said, pulling back to look at Luisa, but Luisa wouldn’t meet her eyes.

‘I’m a drunk, Rose. An alcoholic, I am a screw-up.’

‘No, no you’re not a screw-up. Because you fought that. You still fight that every day. You went to rehab. And that’s not a bad thing, Luisa. Asking for help is never a bad thing. Your father should not have brought it up as if it was. It takes a very strong person to ask for help. Never think of yourself as a screw-up. It’s not shameful to need professional help, it never is. That’s why they’re there, to help.’

Luisa still wasn’t looking at her, her shoulders heaving.

‘Luisa, listen to me. It is so very difficult to beat an alcohol addiction. And you did that. _You_. Not your father. Yes, you went to rehab. Yes, you had help. But none of that works if you hadn’t really wanted it to. You changed. _You_ did that. No one else. Just you.’

Luisa looked up, her eyes red although there were no more tears.

‘And the fact that you did that, that you were strong enough to stop, to move past it, to pick up your life. That proves that you are not a screw-up. It proves you are incredible.’

Luisa sniffed, wiping at her eyes. ‘Thank you,’ she said softly. ‘I – I think I am all cried out,’ she said, smiling weakly.

Rose smiled warmly at Luisa. ‘Is there anything I can do?’ she asked as she passed the sufficiently cooled down cup of tea to Luisa. 

Luisa took a small sip. ‘No, thank you. And I’m sorry for dragging you to that dinner.’

‘It’s okay, you don’t need to be sorry for anything,’ Rose said, rubbing up and down Luisa’s arms soothingly.

Luisa nodded, flashing Rose a small smile. ‘Can you do one thing for me?’ she asked in a small voice.

‘Anything,’ Rose said, meaning it 100%.

‘Could you hold me?’

‘You never need to ask,’ Rose smiled, shifting on the couch so Luisa could lay against her chest, folding her arms over Luisa’s stomach as they made themselves comfortable.

‘So Petra seems nice,’ Rose said after a few minutes spent in comfortable silence.

‘Oh god, Petra,’ Luisa said. ‘What must she think of us? My dad laid into her pretty hard…’

‘I’m sure Rafael will make it up to her. They’re in love. I don’t think your dad changed anything about that,’ Rose said, kissing the top of Luisa’s head softly.

‘They really are, aren’t they?’ Luisa said, and Rose could hear the smile in her voice. ‘Oh my god!’

‘What?’ Rose startled at Luisa’s sudden outburst.

‘I nearly forgot! I’m going to be an aunt!’

Rose relaxed; she had feared it was something bad that had made Luisa yell out. ‘Yes, you are.’

‘I’m going to be an aunt,’ Luisa repeated, a little awed.

‘I’m sure you’ll make an amazing aunt,’ Rose said, hugging Luisa closer.

‘I don’t know. I don’t spend a whole lot of time with babies _after_ they’re born,’ Luisa mused, fidgeting with her hands.

‘I’m sure you’re a natural with children,’ Rose said, feeling like she was approaching dangerous territory by discussing children this early in the relationship. But she wanted to help Luisa forget about what her father had said, and she felt like distraction was the way to go.

‘What makes you think so?’ Luisa asked.

Rose couldn’t see her face thanks to their current position, but she could imagine the insecure expression that accompanied Luisa’s words. Her father had really done a number on her confidence. Luisa was one of the most confident people she knew, and before tonight she hadn’t even thought it possible for Luisa to be shaken like this. But parents always had a way to take their children down with one well-placed blow.

Rose felt herself getting angry again, but anger wouldn’t help anyone. So she took a deep breath and calmed herself down a little.

‘Well, you’re kind, funny, responsible, give _great_ hugs,’ Rose smiled, pulling Luisa even tighter against her to prove her point.

Luisa laughed. ‘So do you,’ she said, turning onto her stomach so they were face to face. Luisa now lying almost completely on top of Rose.

Rose smiled up at Luisa, pushing locks of dark hair behind Luisa’s ears, her hands linger on Luisa’s face as her eyes flicked down to Luisa’s lips.

When she looked back up at Luisa’s eyes, she saw tiny crinkles of amusement in their corners.

 ‘You _can_ kiss me, you know?’ Luisa smiled, her voice having dropped down to a whisper, her own eyes now also darting up and down between Rose’s eyes and her lips.

‘Can I?’ Rose teased, stroking her knuckles softly down Luisa’s cheek, her other hand moving down to the back of Luisa’s neck. ‘What would your girlfriend say about that?’ Rose grinned, pulling Luisa in closer.

‘I don’t think she’d mind,’ Luisa husked, their lips now only a hair’s breadth apart.

‘No, she doesn’t,’ Rose whispered, finally brushing their lips together.

Luisa’s lips were as soft as they always were, but Rose could still taste the salt from her tears on them.

Rose tried to convey her feelings for Luisa into the kiss. With every push of her lips, with every stroke of her tongue she tried to tell Luisa how much she meant to her.

It was a long kiss. Every time they broke apart to catch their breath, one of them brought their lips back together to continue.

Rose didn’t know exactly when, but during the kiss her hands had moved to Luisa’s thighs, pushing her dress up her hips.

She pulled her hands away as soon as she noticed, moving them to the safer space of Luisa’s middle. She wasn’t sure if Luisa wanted this tonight, after everything that had happened.

As soon as she moved her hands, Luisa broke the kiss. She shook her head slightly and Rose noticed her how dark her eyes had gotten.

‘Don’t stop,’ Luisa breathed quietly, moving one of Rose’s hands back to her own thigh.

Rose smiled apologetically, leaning up to capture Luisa’s lips in another kiss. Her hands pushing Luisa’s dress further up her hips again.

* * *

She woke up in her bed hours later.

It was still dark, meaning she had at least another two hours before she had to get up and go to work. She turned onto her side to check on Luisa and found the other side of the bed suspiciously empty.

Luisa should have been there: she had fallen asleep in her arms after the making out on the couch had progressed to sex in bed.

Rose rubbed her eyes and got up, wanting to make sure Luisa was okay before going back to sleep. She searched around for her robe, but when she couldn’t find it, she just wrapped the sheet of her bed around herself to ward off the chill that was making goosebumps break out all over her bare skin.

She found Luisa sitting at her kitchen counter, hands wrapped around a cup of tea.

‘Everything okay?’ Rose asked.

Luisa looked up, startled; she hadn’t heard Rose come in.

‘I didn’t wake you, did I?’ Luisa asked.

‘No, I just woke up and missed you,’ Rose smiled softly, sitting down next to Luisa, resting her head on the brunette’s shoulder.

‘How long have you been up?’ Rose asked, noticing a distinct lack of steam coming from the mug in front of Luisa.

‘I don’t know. I- I had a dream. I couldn’t fall back asleep afterwards. I didn’t want to wake you. You need your sleep,’ Luisa said, staring intently at the mug of cold tea in front of her.

Rose could tell from Luisa’s body language that the brunette was upset about something. But she didn’t want to ask about the dream here, in the cold, while there was a perfectly nice, cozy bed waiting for them.

‘Come back to bed,’ Rose said softly. ‘You need your sleep too.’

Luisa nodded, moving stiffly as she got up. Making Rose once again wonder how long she’d been out here in only a thin robe.

‘Come on,’ Rose said, helping Luisa out of her robe as they climbed back in bed together. Luisa immediately curling up against her side, burying her head in the side of Rose’s neck.

‘Do you want to talk about it,’ Rose asked, stroking Luisa’s hair, feeling Luisa’s shuddering breath against her skin.

‘I had a dream, or more of a memory really, from when I was drinking. It was bad, Rose. I was in a bad way, then. And I don’t want to drink again. I don’t. But for the whole night I’ve wanted nothing more than a drink to help me forget about what my father said. How backwards is that?’ Luisa laughed a distinctly unhappy laugh.

‘Lu, look at me.’ Rose said, tilting Luisa’s head towards her when the brunette wouldn’t meet her eyes. ‘It was to be expected that your father’s words would remind you of your drinking again. So don’t beat yourself up about it.’

‘I know; I just have to deal with it. I haven’t wanted a drink in so long. But tonight I was thinking “If I could just have _one_ ” you know? And I know it doesn’t stay with one drink. It never did. But I couldn’t help thinking about it.’

Rose chewed on her lip, thinking of something to say. She knew this wasn’t good. That last night was a very real trigger for a relapse. And she wanted to help Luisa, she just wasn’t sure what would help Luisa through this.

‘Is there anyone you could call?’ Rose asked, rubbing up and down Luisa’s back.

‘Yeah, my sponsor,’ Luisa said. ‘But it’s the middle of the night. I don’t want to bother her…’

‘Isn’t that what she’s for?’ Rose asked.

‘Yes. But talking with you is helping already. The urge is fading. I know what happens when I drink. This wouldn’t be the first time I relapsed,’ Luisa said sadly.

‘You’re not going to relapse today,’ Rose said, pulling Luisa closer to her. ‘Just keep talking to me. What else helps?’

‘Distraction,’ Luisa said softly. ‘You’ve been a great help with that so far,’ she smiled. The smile was a little weak, but it was most definitely a smile.

Rose laughed. ‘Good, I can help with that some more if you want.’

‘No, that’s okay. You should sleep. I’ve kept you awake long enough. I’m fine, promise.’

Rose looked at her skeptically, knowing Luisa was far from fine.

‘Please tell me if there is anything I can do to help.’

‘I will,’ Luisa said. ‘I’ll go to a meeting tomorrow morning, call my sponsor. Do what I always do when I want to drink again.’

‘Good,’ Rose said, wrapping her arms around Luisa’s shoulders, pulling her flush against her as she closed her eyes again. ‘I’m so proud of you,’ she whispered. ‘I know how difficult things like this are to talk about. Thank you for trusting me.’

‘Thank you for being there for me.’

* * *

‘How was dinner with the in-laws?’ Sarah asked when she wandered into Rose’s office later that morning, carrying two cups of coffee.

‘Don’t ask,’ Rose sighed, slamming the file she was working on shut, massaging her temples.

‘That bad?’ Sarah asked with concern.

‘Worse,’ Rose said, looking up at her friend and colleague.

‘Auch, what happened?’ Sarah handed Rose her coffee.

‘Luisa’s father is a dick. That’s all there is to it. We left before dessert was served.’

‘What did he do?’

Rose ran a hand through her hair. Not sure if she should tell, but it was Sarah, and she had the feeling Luisa wouldn’t really mind Sarah knowing. Luisa was really open about her past, alcohol abuse and rehab included.

‘He brought up Luisa’s drinking.’

‘Oh no,’ Sarah said, her eyes wide in surprise. ‘How did Luisa take it?’

‘Not well. She called her sponsor this morning. She went to a meeting.’

‘Jesus, is she okay?’

‘She will be, last night was not a good one,’ Rose sighed.

‘Ladies,’ a very much unwelcome voice said from Rose’s doorway. ‘Sorry I’m interrupting this morning’s gossip. But shouldn’t you be working?’ he said to Rose.

‘Shouldn’t you?’ Sarah said, before Rose could even unlock her now angrily clenched jaw to say something.

‘I have some time before court. By the way, thank you for your notes, Rose,’ Leon smirked. ‘Really help me nail this case.’

‘You’re welcome,’ Rose said. She wasn’t going to let Leon bait her.

‘How are those cases you’re working on panning out?’

‘Very well, still negotiating some deals. But otherwise everything is working out fine,’ Rose said, plastering on a fake smile. She wasn’t going to tell Leon the only reason things were working out was because she’d been working her ass off day and night as he had done less than nothing on these cases.

‘I am so glad you said that,’ Leon said, grinning his snake-like grin. ‘Because I have a couple of other cases for you.’

Rose didn’t say anything, just biting her lip as she accepted three more files from Leon.

‘You can’t do this,’ Sarah said, standing up. She was more than a full head shorter than Leon, but her anger seemed to make her look taller, so even Leon took a step back. ‘Just because she rejected you, does not mean you can make her do all your work. Even if this is your godfather’s office.’

Leon’s usually charming mask fall, anger contorting his face into something diabolical. ‘Actually, I can. These are all one-day court cases. There is no maximum for how many one employee can have at one time.’

‘They are supposed to be divided _evenly_ between us. So we can all take a couple of longer, more complicated cases that _pay_ better. Because of your antics, Rose has been doing short cases every day now.’

‘And there is nothing that says she can’t. She’s inexperienced, fresh out of law school really. I was just helping her gain some experience.’

Sarah was fuming now. Rose carefully got up, putting her hand on Sarah’s shoulder. ‘He’s not worth it.’

‘But you are,’ Sarah bit out.

‘I am going to talk to Hanson about this. You can’t do this,’ she continued.

Leon grinned like he had just won the jackpot.

‘Actually, Hanson already approved this, said it was a good way to get her to learn the job.’

‘Thank you, Leon. We’ll let you get back to work,’ Rose said, her hand balled into a fist at her side while she physically held Sarah back.

‘See you tomorrow. Rose, Sarah,’ Leon grinned before leaving them alone.

‘Give me those,’ Sarah said, taking the files Leon just left off Rose’s desk.

‘Sarah no, you heard him.’

‘Yes, I did. He said there is no maximum of small cases one of us can have, so I am taking these three. You’re working yourself to death, Rose. And right now, your girlfriend needs you. So I am taking these cases and you can just buy me coffee for the rest of the month while you plan an anniversary date for tomorrow night.’

Rose’s eyes went wide.

‘Don’t tell me you forgot your one-week anniversary is tomorrow,’ Sarah said, amusement replacing her earlier anger.

‘Is that even a thing?’ Rose asked, after everything that happened, having completely forgotten that tomorrow evening, their first kiss would be exactly one week ago.

‘It is when you’re both having a hard time and need something to cheer you up. So, what do you say, want me to help plan?’

Rose felt the corners of her lips turn up into a smile. She knew she should actually be working, that _Sarah_ should actually be working. But Sarah was right, she and Luisa needed this.

‘Sure, just one thing,’ Rose said, wrapping her arms tightly around Sarah. ‘Thank you for everything. You’re a great friend.’

‘And don’t you forget it,’ Sarah smiled. ‘So let’s brainstorm, where would you go?’

Rose thought it over for a moment, and then the perfect idea struck her. ‘I know exactly where to go…’

* * *

Rose had just walked through the front door of their building when her phone buzzed.

Luisa<3<3<3 @ 5:57 PM  
I’m going to another meeting, don’t wait for me.

Rose @ 5:57 PM  
Will you stop by afterwards? You know how I hate cooking for one.

Luisa<3<3<3 @ 5:58 PM  
I’d love to. I have something to tell you, but I don’t want to do it via text. It’s bad. I’ll call, okay?

As soon as Rose finished reading, her phone started buzzing, Luisa’s picture filling up her screen.

Rose felt her blood turn to ice. She had some idea what Luisa might want to tell her, and it definitely wasn’t good. She took a second to prepare herself for the worst before answering the call. Reminding herself that Luisa was still in a good enough state to text, so whatever it was, they could handle it. Together.

‘Hey, is everything okay?’ Rose asked, sitting down on the bottom step of the stairs.

‘Yes, it’s fine. This is just something I’d rather tell you in person,’

Luisa’s voice was clear, if a little nervous, which did nothing for Rose’s own nerves. ‘What is it?’ she asked, twisting the ring on her finger.

‘Could you go into my apartment and take the bottle of vodka I keep in the back of the pantry?’

Rose felt like time stopped for a second. The sentence replaying in her head.

That was definitely not good. She took a measured breath before asking a question she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer to. ‘Luisa, why do you have a bottle of vodka in your home?’ She was afraid that after everything, Luisa’s father had driven her to drink again.

‘To prove to myself that I am strong enough to resist the urge to drink, even when it’s just _right there_. But right now, I do not trust myself to be alone with it.’

Rose let out a relieved sigh: Luisa hadn’t been drinking.

And with the revelation of the bottle of vodka stashed in her house, some of Luisa’s recent behavior started to make sense. Her reluctance to go to her own apartment last night. Asking Rose to come upstairs with her to change her clothes this morning. It was all out of fear she was going to submit to her urges and drink again.

‘Of course I will,’ Rose said. ‘Just one thing, though. I do not have a key to your apartment.’

‘I left mine on your kitchen counter this morning. I wanted to ask you then, but we were already running late. And I didn’t want to trouble you any more…’

‘You are not troubling me, at all. I’ll get rid of it, and then I will make dinner for the two of us.’

‘You must think I’m crazy… Keeping alcohol in my house, not trusting myself to throw it away now.’

‘I don’t think you’re crazy. Eccentric, yes.’ Rose could hear Luisa laugh over the phone. ‘But never crazy. Crazy smart maybe. Crazy hot, too.’

‘You’re starting to sound like a teenager,’ Luisa laughed.

‘I’ll stop then,’ Rose smiled.

‘I’ll see you in an hour.’

Rose thought of what to say next, knowing what she wanted to say. _I love you_. It was so easy. It was right there at the tip of her tongue, but she held it back. Not sure either of them was ready for that yet. The timing wasn’t great either. Even if Luisa might need to hear it now more than ever.

‘I’ll see you then, get home safe.’ Is what she said instead.

Rose quickly gathered their mail before ducking into her own apartment to get Luisa’s keys. Determined to get rid of the alcohol first thing.

It was a little strange to go into Luisa’s apartment without the brunette there with her. The house seemed less alive without its vibrant occupant in it.

Rose made her way to the pantry, finding the bottle on the highest shelf behind a jar of mayonnaise that was so far past its expiration date, it posed almost as much a risk to Luisa’s health as the vodka itself.

She emptied the whole bottle down the drain, opening a window and running plenty of water after it to get rid of the smell.

She then threw the bottle down the garbage chute in the hallway. Technically glass wasn’t allowed down it, but Rose just wanted to bottle to smash into as many little pieces as possible, and a five floor drop was sure to accomplish that. She smiled as she heard a satisfying crash echo back up to her. Luisa 1, alcohol 0.

* * *

Rose was just plating up their dinner when the intercom buzzed. For a moment she wondered who it could be, but then she remembered she had Luisa’s keys so the brunette had no way to get into the building.

‘Hello?’ she asked, happy Luisa was home.

‘Hey, it’s your girlfriend. Could you buzz me in, please?’

‘Always, you know the way up, right?’ Rose teased.

Luisa’s answer to that was to slam the door closed.

Rose finished setting the table in the time it took Luisa to walk up three flights of stairs. She had decided they would sit at the table today, so all her papers had been moved to the floor, there seemed to be more of them every day.

‘Hey,’ Rose greeted as she opened her front door to Luisa.

Luisa didn’t say anything, she just walked into Rose’s arms and wrapped her own tightly around Rose.

Rose immediately returned the embrace and they just stood there for a little while. Inhaling each other’s scent and drawing comfort from their close proximity.

Eventually Luisa tilted her head up and brushed her lips against Rose’s in a chaste kiss.

‘You smell nice.’

‘It’s the food,’ Rose smiled.

‘No, _you_ smell nice. You always smell nice,’ Luisa said. ‘Like flowers.’

Rose smiled. ‘How was today?’ Rose asked as she guided Luisa to the table, pulling her chair out for her.

‘Hard, but better now. The meetings helped. My sponsor helped. I feel more in control now. You helped too,’

‘I did nothing,’ Rose said, surprised.

‘You didn’t freak out, you didn’t withdraw. You were just there. You _trusted_ me. You asked what I needed. You didn’t assume. I appreciate that. No one ever trusts me, no one ever asks.’

Rose smiled, reaching across the table to cover Luisa’s hand with her own. ‘I’m just glad you didn’t withdraw from me. And you can always ask me to do stuff.’

Luisa nodded, trying to swallow down her tears. Suddenly she lifted her head back up, laughing, wiping at her eyes.

Rose looked at her with concern.

‘It’s okay,’ Luisa said when she met the concerned blue eyes. ‘Meetings make me emotional and I’m just glad I have someone with me this time around. But enough about me, how was your day?’

‘Good. Nothing special happened,’ Rose lied. She knew she shouldn’t lie after how honest Luisa had been with her about everything. But she just didn’t want to make Luisa’s bad day worse by telling her what Leon had done. It wasn’t that important anyway. So a little white lie wouldn’t hurt anyone.

‘So Leon stayed in his lane?’

‘Haven’t seen him all day,’ Rose smiled.

‘Good,’ Luisa said. ‘That’s good. And so is this,’ she said, staring at the food on her plate after just swallowing her first mouthful.

‘I’m glad,’ Rose laughed.

‘If the lawyer thing doesn’t pan out,’ Luisa said between bites. ‘You can always start a restaurant. That’s how good this is.’

Luisa kept praising her food throughout the meal, Rose feeling the atmosphere around them lighten a little. The oppressive air that had surrounded them since last night fading as they laughed and joked together. Sharing kisses in between bites.

After they’d finished and were eating their bowls of ice cream (the best end to a bad day) on the couch, Rose decided that now was the time to tell Luisa about her plans for tomorrow night.

‘So, are you doing anything tomorrow night?’ Rose asked causally.

‘No, why?’ Luisa asked.

‘I’d like to take you somewhere…’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I handled this okay, I am no expert on addiction but I tried my best. 
> 
> Comments are very welcome and I look forward to writing the next chapter in which they will hopefully have a happy one-week anniversary! (That is totally a thing, shut up!)
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for the anniversary! 
> 
> There is some light smut in this chapter, so you have been warned, enjoy!

Rose spent that Friday morning doing at least one of three things: work, plan the best one-week anniversary dinner ever and buy Sarah lots of coffee. Because while Sarah was also working on her own cases and helping Rose plan the dinner, she also had to lay the groundwork for the cases she’d taken from Rose the previous day.

So the least Rose could do was buy her inhuman amounts of coffee while they both worked inside of Sarah’s office. It was more efficient as they didn’t need to keep walking up and down between their offices to discuss things, and it came with the added bonus that Leon couldn’t find Rose so she had yet to see him that morning.

‘Do you have that deposition?’ Sarah asked, taking a sip of her second jumbo coffee of the day.

‘Yes, one second,’ Rose said, sifting through the stack of files in front of her until she found the one Sarah was looking for.

‘So what are you wearing tonight?’ Sarah asked while reading the file simultaneously.

‘I don’t know,’ Rose sighed, looking up from her opening statement. ‘I can’t wear the red dress again even if it is her favorite. She’s seen me in it too many times. Including Wednesday.’

‘Okay, so that one is definitely out. What else have you got?’

‘You have seen most of my wardrobe already. I have some more evening dresses. Black, blue, green. The usual. None of them really special.’

‘So don’t wear a dress,’ Sarah said, looking up from her file. ‘You said so yourself, she likes you in slacks. So wear slacks. No! Even better! Wear a tux.’

Rose laughed. ‘I don’t know if I can pull that off…’

‘Rose, sweetheart, have you ever heard a man say that? They are all basically potatoes and they all wear suits and go from a 4 to an 8. You, my friend, are already a ten so a suit is going to take you to an off-the-charts 14 and people will think you’re a goddess and start a new religion.’

Rose laughed. ‘Thank you. I’ve always wanted my own religion. So what do you think, tie or bowtie?’

‘Undone bowtie. Go full on Angelina at the 2014 BAFTA’s. Learned to appreciate women in a whole new light that day…’ Sarah mused wistfully.

‘God, I know. And I was gay _before_ that,’ Rose sighed.

‘So definitely do that. Luisa will love it,’ Sarah said, focusing back onto her work. ‘And you found the perfect location already, right?

‘I did,’ Rose smiled. That one had been surprisingly easy.

‘And the chef?’

‘That’s just me, Sarah. Just need to pick up the ingredients after work.’

‘Just hire someone,’ Sarah sighed, crossing something out with a red marker. ‘You barely have enough time as it is.’

‘It won’t be the same. I always cook. And I like doing it,’ Rose shrugged.

‘You just think you’re gonna get laid if you make a home-cooked meal,’ Sarah teased.

‘I am pretty confident I am going to get laid tonight regardless of if I cook the dinner or not,’ Rose said thoughtlessly, her mind momentarily going somewhere else.

‘You’re probably right, I have seen the way the two of you look at each other.’

Sarah looked up and found Rose dreamily staring into the distance.

‘Evans! Get your head out of the gutter! You need to romance the girl first. And you can’t do that with only half a plan.’

‘Yes, ma’am,’ Rose said, doing a mock salute, memories of the previous night fading to the background as she went back to work.

‘Anything else we need to discuss?’ Sarah asked.

‘I think we’ve got a pretty good handle on it. I’ll just have to go shopping during my lunchbreak for a bowtie.’

‘I’m coming with you,’ Sarah said resolutely.

Rose raised an eyebrow.

‘I need to make sure you pick the right one,’ Sarah explained casually.

‘You just want to ogle the male models in the suit store.’

‘Can you blame me?’

And Rose really couldn’t after everything Sarah had done for her.

* * *

‘So this is _the_ building?’ Sarah asked as she walked through the door, arms laden with plastic bags containing everything from pasta sauce to a bowtie.

‘Yes, this is my building,’ Rose said, already halfway up the stairs. Even with all of Sarah’s help, she was still behind schedule.

‘And these are _the_ mailboxes,’ Sarah nearly squealed, looking at the completely ordinary mailboxes stacked up against the wall beside her with an interest Rose didn’t have time for.

‘You can plan your romantic tour of our building later. Right now I need to start cooking and then get dressed.’

‘Right. I’m coming, I’m coming,’ Sarah huffed, dragging all the bags upstairs with her. ‘But I am telling you people in the future will pay to see the place you two met.’

* * *

‘Wow!’ Sarah applauded as Rose walked out of the bedroom. ‘Spin around for me.’

Rose smiled, doing a slow twirl as instructed.

‘I don’t think I can let you out of the house looking like this,’ Sarah said, her eyes sparkling.

‘Why not? That bad?’ Rose asked, knowing Sarah was just teasing her.

‘No, I think you might cause a traffic accident or something because you look _insanely_ hot. Seriously, Luisa is going to love it. And you, for doing all of this.’

Rose smiled shyly at the thought. She really hoped Luisa would like it. She had called not that long ago, saying she was looking forward to it and that she was just going to a meeting before coming home to change.

Rose told her to take her time and they could always push their meeting time if necessary. Luisa assured her it wasn’t, but Rose knew Luisa was struggling and she wished she could do more. But according to Luisa, she was doing enough by just being there for her and providing distraction when needed. But Rose still felt a little useless.

‘So now everything is set, I think it’s time for me to go,’ Sarah said, getting up off the couch.

‘Thank you so much, Sarah,’ Rose said immediately, approaching her friend with the intent to hug. ‘I know how busy you are but I couldn’t have done this without you.’

‘It’s more than alright. That’s what friends are for,’ Sarah smiled. ‘And I would hug you but I do not want to crease your shirt. I’ll leave that to Luisa,’ she said with a sly grin.

‘I owe you a life time supply of coffee,’ Rose smiled.

‘Make it two, I am going to need one of those just to make it through this weekend,’ Sarah smiled wryly.

‘I’m sorry for all the extra work I dumped on you,’ Rose said, immediately feeling guilty again.

‘Hey, that’s not on you,’ Sarah said. ‘That’s on Leon. And that asshole is not going to get the satisfaction of working you into the grave. So I am just doing my part.’

‘And I can’t ever thank you for that.’

‘Just make sure Luisa has a nice night out, okay? No mentions of work or that prick. Or Luisa’s father. Or your mother. Wow, lot of topics to avoid.’

‘I know, nothing can ever be easy,’ Rose sighed.

‘Easy is boring,’ Sarah shrugged. ‘Easy doesn’t form bonds. But the two of you truly deserve something easy right now, because it is starting to feel like the universe is out to get you.’

‘It really does,’ Rose said, seeing Sarah out.

‘I expect a complete update on Luisa’s reaction to everything tomorrow morning,’ Sarah reminded her before stepping outside.

‘And I will make sure you get it,’ Rose laughed, quickly picking the bouquet of flowers of her kitchen counter and making her way upstairs while Sarah went down. It was time to get the evening started.

Rose fiddled with the bowtie around her neck, making sure it hung at the perfect uneven length. She had knocked on Luisa’s door a moment ago and suddenly felt what millions of teenage boys must feel every year when they knocked on their prom date’s door. Only tonight she wouldn’t have to gain the approval of threatening parents, just Luisa’s.

‘One second!’ a muffled yell sounded from behind the still closed door.

Rose smiled as she heard the unmistakable sound of Luisa hopping towards the door on one foot, obviously trying to get her other shoe on.

‘So are you going to tell me where…’ the sentence faded out into nothingness as Luisa’s mouth fell open and her eyes went wide.

‘You look beautiful,’ Rose smiled, holding the bouquet of red roses out to a stunned Luisa.

Luisa, not yet having regained the ability to talk, wordlessly accepted the flowers. She shook her head a couple of times before muttering something indecipherable.

‘Can I come in?’ Rose asked, taking in Luisa’s outfit for the night.

She had told Luisa to wear something fancy. Not because they had to, but because Rose liked Luisa all dressed up. And Luisa had defied her expectations once again.

The brunette had picked an asymmetrical shimmering black dress that hung of one shoulder and fell past her knees. ‘You are stunning,’ Rose whispered into Luisa’s ear as she strode past her into the apartment, Luisa apparently still floored by her outfit.

Luisa stood frozen in the doorway for a couple of seconds longer, only then turning around and closing the door.

Rose was leaning against the counter, watching Luisa with amusement. Sarah had once again been right; Luisa seemed to enjoy the outfit alright.

‘Do we have to leave right now?’ Luisa asked, her voice a little breathy as she put the flowers down on the counter and stepped closer to Rose, running her hands over the soft material of the undone bowtie hanging around her neck.

‘Not immediately, no,’ Rose smiled, cupping Luisa’s face and pulling her in for a kiss.

Luisa’s lips were soft and inviting as always and the kiss soon got heated.

‘I’ve been thinking about you all day,’ Luisa breathed hotly as they broke apart. ‘But I wasn’t expecting this,’ she said, hungrily running her eyes up and down Rose’s body. ‘Please tell me you’re keeping it.’

‘It’s all mine.’

‘Oh god,’ Luisa moaned, winding her hands around the undone bowtie hanging from Rose’s neck, ready to pull her in for another kiss. ‘I am never letting you wear anything other than a tux. You are too hot right now.’

‘Lu,’ Rose whimpered as Luisa started kissing her neck, the brunette’s hands now firmly on her ass. ‘I am glad you’re enjoying the outfit, but I do have something else planned for the evening.’

Luisa didn’t immediately pull away, her kisses and hands lingering a little longer.

‘Okay,’ she sighed, pouting slightly as she put some distance between them. ‘But promise me I get to take that off of you later tonight.’ Her pout turning into a sly grin.

‘You can take off anything you want later,’ Rose smiled back.

‘Let’s go then!’ Luisa said, suddenly in a hurry as she started dragging Rose towards the front door.

‘You know, if you slow down a little, you get to look at me in this suit longer.’

Luisa considered it for a second and then slowed down, even lagging behind Rose a bit.

Rose chuckled. ‘You’re looking at my ass, aren’t you?’

‘I’m not gonna stop,’ Luisa hummed happily.

Rose smiled and extended her hand towards Luisa, intertwining their fingers as they walked down the stairs. ‘You can ogle me all you want tonight; I’ll be doing the same.’ Her eyes darting down to the tops of Luisa’s breasts hidden beneath smooth, black fabric.

Their relationship was based on much more than physical attraction, but neither of them could deny that the physical attraction was definitely there. _Especially_ tonight.

‘You still haven’t told me where we’re going,’ Luisa said as she gracefully stepped into the taxi waiting for them at the curb.

‘You’ll see,’ Rose mused, softly stroking Luisa’s knuckles with her thumb.

‘You’re not going to blindfold me, are you?’ Luisa asked after the taxi took off.

‘I hadn’t planned on it, but I could always use my bowtie to do so if I changed my mind,’ Rose smiled.

Luisa laughed, playing with the silky fabric hanging around Rose’s neck. ‘I know the undone bowtie was a style choice, very Angelina Jolie at the 2014 BAFTA’s, but would you mind tying it for me? I’d like to see it.’

‘Of course,’ Rose said, taking the ends from Luisa and tying a flawless bow in it on the first try.

‘Now you look like a really hot waiter,’ Luisa grinned, tugging on the ends of the bow until it hung undone around Rose’s neck once again. ‘I like it better this way.’

‘I do too,’ Rose whispered, brushing her lips against Luisa’s shoulder.

‘I still can’t believe you are doing all of this for me,’ Luisa said, smiling a little shyly as she looked up at Rose.

‘I thought that we could use a night out after the week we’ve had.’ Rose had intended not to mention work, Leon, her mother or Luisa’s father tonight, so she wasn’t going to elaborate further. ‘And our one-week anniversary seemed like a great excuse to do just that.’

‘You didn’t have to go this big, you know?’ Luisa asked, resting her head on Rose’s shoulder. They were almost always touching now, and while Rose was usually a fan of personal space, she would never complain about Luisa being so close to her. Because when the brunette wasn’t, she always felt herself reaching out to bring her closer.

‘I wanted to,’ Rose said, kissing Luisa’s temple. _Because I love you_. It still didn’t feel quite right to say it. Too early. But Rose knew that what she was feeling for Luisa right now was most definitely love, even if it was still in its early stages. And while it was a wonderful feeling, it also scared her a little, to care about someone so deeply after just one week. She never had before. She had never even said “I love you” to another human being that wasn’t somehow related to her. So this was a big thing for her.

Luisa hadn’t noticed Rose’s quiet contemplation and just continued where Rose had left off.

‘But what are you going to do for the bigger anniversaries? The one-month? The two-month? The six months?’

It made Rose smile that Luisa was certain enough of their relationship to know that they would still be together 6 months in the future; that was how she felt too.

‘So you aren’t going to plan _any_ of them?’ Rose joked, playfully nudging Luisa in the side with her elbow.

‘You’re doing such a great job with this one, I thought I’d just show up and look pretty for all the future ones too,’ Luisa grinned, her dark eyes sparkling.

‘You don’t even know if I’ve done a good job on this one yet,’ Rose grinned. ‘But you do look very pretty.’ She brought their lips together in another kiss.

‘I am certain it will be great,’ Luisa sighed against her lips. ‘The outfit alone makes you qualified.’

Rose laughed. ‘Well, you’re about to find out if the rest of the evening lives up to the outfit; we’re here.’

Luisa looked out of the window, confusion narrowing her eyes. ‘And where exactly is here?’

The taxi had halted in front of a very ordinary looking building, light shining behind some of the windows, but most of them were dark. It didn’t look like much from the ground.

‘You’ll see,’ Rose said mysteriously, helping Luisa out of the car. ‘Come on,’ she encouraged as Luisa stood still on the pavement, looking up at the building with mild confusion and slight concern.

When Luisa still didn’t move, Rose tangled their fingers together. ‘Trust me?’

Luisa looked up at her, not hesitating for a moment before speaking. ‘Yes, I trust you.’

‘Then let’s go inside,’ Rose smiled. She knew Luisa was still confused, but curiosity won out in the end. She wasn’t surprised honestly; it was a bit of a strange location for an anniversary.

Rose greeted the security guard by name and made her way over to the elevator, still holding Luisa’s hand.

‘You’ve been here before,’ Luisa observed.

‘A couple of times, yes,’ Rose smiled, pressing the button for the top floor.

‘Could you please tell me what we’re doing here?’ Luisa asked.

‘You’ll see,’ Rose said again, they were very nearly there and then all would become clear.

The elevator stopped and opened its doors into an empty hallway, doors on either side.

‘Rose?’ Luisa asked, still not understanding where they were.

‘Almost there,’ Rose said, letting go of Luisa’s hand. Beckoning her to follow as she walked towards a steel grey door marker “Roof”.

‘Close your eyes,’ Rose smiled, opening the door a bit.

Luisa looked at her skeptically.

‘You said you trusted me. I promise nothing will happen to you.’

Luisa sighed and did as Rose asked.

Rose took both of Luisa’s hands lightly in her own, walking backwards as Luisa followed her blindly, not having any other choice.

‘Okay, there are some stairs, careful,’ Rose said, climbing the first step backwards, leading Luisa up.

‘I don’t know if my trust extends to you blindly leading me up stairs in high heels.’ But she kept her eyes closed.

At the end of the staircase, there was another steel door, Rose quietly opened it and led Luisa outside, the light breeze lifting Luisa’s hair up from her shoulders.

‘Can I open my eyes yet?’ Luisa asked.

‘One moment,’ Rose answered, taking a look around herself first to make sure everything was as it should be.

She hadn’t had time to check for herself, but her brother had really outdone himself. She should give him more credit in the future.

‘Okay, you can open them,’ Rose said, wrapping her arms around Luisa’s waist from behind.

Luisa blinked a couple of times to get used to the light and then let out an astonished gasp. ‘It’s beautiful,’ she whispered in awe.

The roof of the building doubled as its garden. Dozens of plants and flowers blossoming all around them. The whole terrace being illuminated by hundreds of Christmas lights strung around wooden posts. A table was set right at the edge of the roof, offering an incredible view of the ocean a mere mile away.

‘Wow,’ Luisa gasped, turning around in Rose’s arms. ‘This is gorgeous.’

‘It is, isn’t it?’ Rose mused, resting her forehead against Luisa’s. ‘Happy one-week anniversary.’

‘Happy one-week anniversary,’ Luisa whispered back, her fingers coming to rest on Rose’s neck, pulling her in for a soft kiss.

They stayed entwined like that for a while. Their lips pushing and pulling, their tongues stroking and soothing while their teeth playfully nipped and clashed.

Rose would never get enough of the endless variety but constant familiarity of their kisses. There was slow and gentle, hard and fast, and sometimes one flowed into the other while their hands roamed across backs, necks and arms.

‘So,’ Luisa said after pulling away from the kiss but not from Rose, resting her head on Rose’s shoulder. ‘Where are we exactly?’

‘My half-brother, Derek, he runs some sort of entertainment business. He organizes parties and this is one of the locations he uses here in Miami. I asked him if I could use it for tonight. I thought you might like it because of the flowers and the ocean view.’

‘It’s really beautiful,’ Luisa said, pecking Rose on the lips again. ‘Thank you.’

‘Thank you for being my girlfriend,’ Rose said truthfully.

‘Thank you for being mine,’ Luisa said, tightening her embrace.

Rose kissed the crown of Luisa’s head, laughing a little as Luisa murmured a protest when she moved out of her embrace.

‘There is something else I wanted to do with you tonight. No not that, not yet anyway,’ Rose laughed when she saw Luisa’s sly grin.

She moved towards the table, pressing a button on a remote so soft music swelled from hidden speakers all around them.

‘May I have this dance?’ Rose asked, her hand extended towards Luisa, who took it with a beaming smile.

‘You can lead,’ Luisa whispered as she put her other hand on Rose’s shoulder.

Rose laughed. ‘I am not really leading if you gave me permission, am I?’

‘No you’re not, but for tonight you can,’ Luisa smiled contently.

They danced slowly to the music, their bodies pressed closely together.

Rose had never realized dancing with someone could feel this incredible. To be this close to someone, to move so perfectly in sync it felt like there was no ground beneath them.

When the song ended she twirled Luisa carefully and led her to the table for the next part of the evening.

‘That was nice,’ Luisa smiled, sitting down on the chair Rose had just pulled out for her. ‘We should do that again.’

‘Dinner first,’ Rose smiled.

‘You made this,’ Luisa said as Rose revealed their dinner.

‘I did.’

‘How did you have time to make lasagna? From scratch,’ Luisa said as soon as she took a bite.

‘I had a great sous-chef.’

Luisa raised an eyebrow in question so Rose explained.

‘Sarah helped, with everything really.’

‘I owe her so much coffee,’ Luisa smiled.

‘So do I,’ Rose smiled fondly.

* * *

After dinner and dessert, Rose asked Luisa to dance again, wanting to be close to her, to hold her for a while.

While swaying softly to the music surrounding them, they had started kissing again. Luisa’s hands once again drifting down to cup Rose’s ass.

‘Rose,’ Luisa husked. ‘Are we almost at the part I can take this off of you?’ she said as she pulled on the bowtie around Rose’s neck.

Rose nodded, unable to talk as arousal surged through her body.

‘Let’s go,’ Rose whispered, taking Luisa’s hand in her own. More than ready to leave this place behind.

* * *

They all but stumbled through the door of Rose’s apartment a short but tension filled cab ride later.

‘You- This- I-’ Luisa managed to get out between kisses, obviously failing to pick either talking or kissing.

Rose was much the same, she had never felt this pure _need_ for someone. She needed Luisa right now. She wanted her more than she wanted anything in the world. And after a whole day of just fantasizing about her, she finally got to have her.

Rose shrugged out of her jacket, letting it fall to the ground as she fused her mouth together with Luisa’s again.

Before she could completely pull away, Luisa pulled her back in by the undone tie still hanging from her neck. ‘I get to undress you,’ she growled.

Rose swallowed and nodded, letting her arms fall down to her sides as Luisa pulled her into the bedroom by her arm, kicking the door closed behind them.

‘You are so gorgeous,’ Luisa said, kissing her neck, pulling Rose’s blouse out of her slacks, running her hands up Rose’s side underneath the shirt for a moment before starting to unbutton her blouse.

Luisa moved slowly but surely, crowding Rose’s space and her senses, turning her arousal up another notch.

Once Rose was naked before her, Luisa shoved her onto the bed with a well-placed push to her shoulders.

As Rose raised herself up on her elbows, Luisa reached behind herself, pulling the zipper down and letting gravity take hold of her dress so it pooled at her feet.

Luisa grinned, her bra and underwear following the path of her dress.

‘Happy one-week anniversary to me,’ Rose husked as Luisa knelt down on the bed and crawled over to her.

‘And to me,’ Luisa grinned, tangling her hands in Rose’s hair and leaning in closer for a kiss, their breasts brushing together as a result.

Rose moaned, her hands stroking from Luisa’s shoulders down to the hard bones of her hips.

Luisa nipping at her lips made Rose spread her legs wider so Luisa fell between them.

It had always amazed Rose how perfectly she fitted there. How perfectly they slotted together like they were made to. There were no hard angles, uncomfortable gaps, it was just soft and nice and wonderful.

‘I hate you can turn me on just by being yourself. By just wearing your clothes. You wear them _extremely_ well, but still. There has been no teasing, no inappropriate touching all evening, except from my side, and yet I have never wanted anyone as much. As. I. Want. You,’ Luisa purred, kissing Rose deeply between every other word.

Rose felt much the same way.

‘I want you too. Now.’

‘That can be arranged,’ Luisa grinned hungrily.

* * *

‘I’ve never had a one-week anniversary before,’ Luisa whispered, stroking locks of hair away from Rose’s face as they lay tangled together beneath the sheets. Sticky, sated and sore in all the right places.

‘Me neither. I liked it,’ Rose smiled, reaching up and kissing the tip of Luisa’s nose, making her giggle.

‘Thank you for this,’ Luisa said. ‘I know how much time this must have taken you and I also know how busy you are at work. I really appreciate it.’

‘It’s okay. I had help from Sarah.’ Seeing Luisa this happy and relaxed because of something she had done for her made Rose happy. So it was more than worth the sacrifice.

‘I didn’t think about drinking once tonight,’ Luisa admitted quietly.

Rose smiled, quickly kissing Luisa before speaking. ‘I’m proud of you.’

Luisa smiled happily, proudly. ‘You know when they say relationships are hard? I think they’re lying. This isn’t hard; this is the easiest thing I have ever done.’

Rose laughed, hugging Luisa tighter. ‘Not to be a pessimist, but this relationship is only a week old, it might get harder in the future.’

‘Probably,’ Luisa sighed, turning around so she was laying on Rose’s chest. ‘But in our one-week relationship, we’ve already been through quite a lot.’

Rose thought about that. There had indeed been quite a lot of upheaval in this short week. Not to mention everything that had happened before they actually got together. ‘That’s definitely true, maybe for our two-week anniversary there will be less drama to compensate for.’

‘I wouldn’t say no to that,’ Luisa mused, the soft light coming through the open curtains illuminating the angles of her face beautifully. Rose distractedly traced them with the tips of her fingers.

‘Although,’ Luisa continued before Rose could think of something to say. ‘I wouldn’t say no to seeing you in the suit again.’

‘You really like the suit, huh?’ Rose grinned, kissing Luisa’s face softly, almost reverently.

‘I do, but you can’t wear it for anyone but me. I don’t want to share you in a suit with anyone,’ Luisa grinned cheekily.

‘Sarah saw me in it tonight, she said I looked hot,’ Rose teased.

‘I might have to kill Sarah,’ Luisa deadpanned, trying to appear serious but a playful smile was softening her features.

‘Without Sarah there wouldn’t have been a suit to begin with. It was her idea.’

‘I might have to marry Sarah,’ Luisa said in the same serious tone as before.

‘I won’t let you. You’re mine,’ Rose said, kissing Luisa again, more passionately this time.

‘I’m yours,’ Luisa sighed, curling around Rose.

Rose closed her eyes as well, thinking how lucky she was.

Luisa was an incredible woman. She was smart, strong, dedicated, passionate, honest, beautiful, funny and Rose could probably continue this list forever. Because as far as Rose was concerned, Luisa was the perfect mix of all the good things in the world in just the right proportions, all compacted into one incredible woman.

Rose ran her fingers through Luisa’s soft hair, brushing out the tangles.

‘Ro?’ Luisa murmured sleepily.

‘Yes?’ Rose asked, kissing Luisa temple, licking the nickname coming from Luisa’s lips.

‘I know it’s really early…’

Rose shot a glance at the clock. ‘It only 1 AM.’ Rose would describe that more as late than early.

Luisa laughed softly. ‘No, not what I meant. I was talking about our relationship. But I have never been very good at hiding my emotions, so…’

‘What is it?’ Rose asked, shifting slightly so she could look at Luisa, having an idea of what might be coming.

‘I think I might… No, actually, I am sure. I lo-’

Right at that moment Rose’s phone rang, interrupting whatever Luisa had been about to say.

‘I am so sorry,’ Rose said, quickly getting up to silence the device as well as to get rid of her blush. She was pretty certain she knew where Luisa had been going with that sentence.

‘Who calls at 1 AM?’ Luisa grumbled, turning onto her back and staring at the ceiling as Rose picked up her phone.

‘I have no-’ she trailed off and frowned as she read the name displayed on her screen.

‘I’m sorry, I have to take this,’ Rose said.

‘Somebody better be dead,’ Luisa muttered.

‘Evans,’ Rose said as she answered to phone.

‘Rose, hi, I am so, so sorry to call you this early,’ Erin, the receptionist at work said. ‘But I just got a call from the office and one of your former clients got arrested tonight and he needs his lawyer. So, _you_.’

‘Seriously?’

‘Sadly yes, I’m sorry.’

‘It’s not your fault,’ Rose said, pinching the bridge of her nose. ‘Do you know who it is and what they did?’

Erin named a name and Rose felt her mood plummet even further; it was one of the men form the cases Leon had thrown at her.

Rose listened carefully as Erin rattled off the information she knew at an impossibly fast pace for this time of the night.

‘Tell them I will be there in 30 minutes,’ Rose sighed, already walking into the bedroom to turn on the shower.

‘I am so sorry, Rose. This normally doesn’t happen,’ Erin said before hanging up.

Rose knew it didn’t. And she had no idea how, but she knew that somehow Leon was behind it.

‘What’s going on?’ Luisa asked, having followed Rose into the bathroom.

‘I have been called into work,’ Rose sighed. It seemed her blissful one-week anniversary date with Luisa had just come to an abrupt end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm soorrryyy! I didn't want to do this! But I had to! 
> 
> Regardless of the ending, thank you for reading and comments would be even better than Rose in a suit (for the third time this week)!
> 
> See you next Sunday!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am amazed that I managed to do Sin Week and actually update all my fics. I hope the quality is okay, though.
> 
> In this chapter we'll explore the aftermath of the interrupted "I love you" and see why Luisa is literally the best girlfriend ever.
> 
> Enjoy!

Rose blinked to get rid of the stuffy, burning feeling in her eyes. It was 3 AM and she’d been awake since five that morning. She should really go to bed but she had to finish this first.

The case that had taken her from Luisa’s embrace three weeks ago was still going. And it had turned into absolute _hell_ about two days in. So, combined with all the small cases she was also still doing, she ran on about 3 hours of sleep a night and lots and lots of coffee.

Without taking her eyes of the verdict she was reading, she reached beside her for the thermos of coffee to pour herself yet another cup. Only to notice seconds later she was pouring air; the thermos long since empty.

Rose sighed and rubbed her eyes. Maybe she should lay off the coffee and get some actual sleep. She knew that was what Luisa would suggest if she were here.

She got to her feet with a groan, her limbs stiff and achy from sitting in the same position for hours on end.

Slowly, still trying to get her joints to function properly, she made her way to the kitchen. With another pot of coffee in her system she could probably work for another two hours.

While she waited for her coffeemaker to finish, she did some stretches. They didn’t help much; all her muscles were cramped from the crappy kitchen chair she was using at her desk. Her shoulders were effectively trying to kill her.

Soon, the smell of freshly brewed coffee wafted through the air and the scent alone made Rose slightly nauseous.

She looked around the kitchen, trying to determine when she had last eaten something. The containers from the Chinese take-out Luisa had brought her Friday evening were still sitting on the counter. Not a good sign.

Rose checked her phone for the date, it was early Sunday now. She must have eating something in between… As she tried and failed to remember what she’d eaten on Saturday, she noticed that she had a couple of missed messages.

Luisa<3<3<3 @ 10:24 AM Yesterday  
Don’t work too hard today, okay?

Luisa<3<3<3 @ 1:05 PM Yesterday  
Have you eaten anything today?

Luisa<3<3<3 @ 3:33 PM Yesterday  
How’s work going?

Luisa <3<3<3 @ 7:12 PM Yesterday  
Are you still working?

Luisa<3<3<3 @ 11:49 PM Yesterday  
You should get some sleep. Good night, Rose! Take care.

A tired smile lifted the corners of Rose’s chapped lips. It had been a while since someone was this invested in her life and how she was doing. And with a sigh she realized she hadn’t been returning that sentiment lately.

She had barely seen Luisa in the last three weeks: she was always working. Even when she wasn’t at the office, she was working from home or in court. Trying to prove to Leon that she could take whatever he threw at her.

As a result, Luisa and Sarah had both expressed concern about her work habits. Having noticed the increased intake in caffeine and the decrease in hours spent not working.

Rose felt guilty about not being there more for Luisa, who was still going through the aftermath of that disastrous dinner with her father.

Maybe she should follow Luisa’s advice and get some sleep; she would be more alert in the morning if she got more than two hours of sleep. But there was still so much to do…

She poured herself a cup of coffee, the hot liquid burning down her throat as took a sip. She’d just finish this cup and then go to bed.

Having made up her mind, she sat back down at her desk and picked up where she left off. Sipping coffee that barely did anything to make her feel more alert and sat uncomfortably in her empty stomach.

* * *

‘Rose! ROSE!’

Rose blinked a couple of times, smacking her lips as she wondered why she could still hear the voice from her dream.

‘I’m coming over,’ the voice said. The soft sound coming somewhere from Rose’s left.

She turned onto her stomach and reached for the source of the sound, finding her phone. Luisa’s call picture taking up her screen. When had Luisa called her?

‘Hello?’ she said groggily into the phone. She didn’t know exactly what time it was, but her body and mind were just as exhausted as before she went to sleep.

‘Oh, you’re awake,’ Luisa said, sounding relieved. ‘I heard you curse once ten minutes ago when you picked up and then nothing. I was getting worried.’

‘Yeah, I’m awake,’ Rose said, sitting up and massaging the kinks from her neck. ‘I cursed?’

‘You mumbled something and then said “Fuck it” and that was it.’

‘I guess I must have thought you were my alarm,’ Rose said sheepishly, falling back against her pillow. Only now noticing how uncomfortable her clothes were. She really shouldn’t sleep in jeans.

Luisa laughed, the normally melodious sound echoing tinny through the phone’s speaker.

‘When did you go to bed?’ Luisa asked.

Rose hesitated; she didn’t want Luisa to needlessly worry about her. ‘What time is it now?’ Rose asked.

‘Eleven. That’s why I called, I figured you’d be awake.’

‘What!?’ Rose yelled. ‘Eleven?!’ She should have been up hours ago, working. Why hadn’t her alarm gone off?

‘I’m taking this to mean that you overslept?’ Luisa said, sounding strangely gleeful.

‘By a lot,’ Rose groaned, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and walking into her living room to make coffee. The one upside about having slept in her clothes being that she didn’t have to dress again.

‘That’s your body telling you to slow down. Sleep in. Take some time to eat a real meal. Spend some time with your girlfriend.’

‘I have court tomorrow, I need to write my closing statement,’ Rose said, waking her computer up from sleep.

‘I miss you,’ Luisa said sadly, before quickly correcting herself. ‘No, sorry, that’s manipulative. I know you have to work.’

‘I miss you too,’ Rose said wishfully, but she had no other choice. She _had_ to work.

‘You’re working much too hard. It is a wonder you’re still standing. For three weeks you’ve been up night and day, working on those stupid cases without one ounce of gratitude from your boss.’

‘This case is almost over; things will calm down afterwards.’

‘That’s what you have been saying for three weeks now. I am worried about you, Rose. You barely sleep, you don’t eat. You’re functioning solely on caffeine and stubbornness.’

‘I have to,’ Rose sighed. This was not the first time she’d had this conversation with Luisa.

‘No, you don’t! Talk to your boss, you don’t have to take this. It’s insane! You’re a person and thanks to all the work they have piled on top of you, you barely have any time left to _be_ one.’

‘I can’t.’ It was a lame excuse, the one she had been using for weeks now, but she couldn’t ask for a smaller caseload, her pride wouldn’t allow it.

Luisa sighed, the noise sending a wave of guilt through Rose’s body; this wasn’t fair to Luisa.

‘I’m still coming over to make you breakfast.’

‘I have to work…’ Rose protested meekly; she was already behind schedule.

‘And you can, I am just making sure you have some energy to burn,’ Luisa said, her voice having an edge of finality to it, so Rose didn’t argue.

Instead, she made use of the time it took Luisa to walk down two flights of stairs by throwing on a clean shirt and brushing her teeth.

Her toothbrush was still in her mouth when a knock echoed through her apartment.

‘You look like hell,’ Luisa said, carrying a bag with groceries. Knowing from experience that Rose’s fridge would contain only condiments.

‘Thanks,’ Rose said as she rinsed her mouth. ‘You look nice, too.’

Luisa cocked her head, the “really?” oozing from every pore.

‘Sorry,’ Rose said, throwing her arms around Luisa’s shoulders as a pacifying gesture. ‘I get bitchy when I don’t get enough sleep.’

‘So get more sleep,’ Luisa deadpanned as she stood up on her toes to softly kiss Rose on the lips.

‘I couldn’t spend as much time with you if I slept longer,’ Rose grinned.

Luisa raised an eyebrow. ‘And yet you barely spent any time with me as it is.’

‘I’m sorry. I’m sure it will clear up soon and then we can have a date night.’

‘No, then you’re going to catch up on some sleep and _after_ that we can have a date night.’

‘Sounds like a plan,’ Rose said, removing herself from Luisa’s embrace. The sooner she started working, the earlier that plan could be executed.

Luisa let her, busying herself with cooking breakfast.

‘Now close your laptop and eat breakfast in peace,’ Luisa said, carrying two plates to Rose’s desk/kitchen table.

‘One moment,’ Rose said, quickly scanning the page for the information she needed.

‘Now,’ Luisa said firmly, putting the plate down and closing Rose’s laptop.

Rose looked up, prepared to argue her point, but Luisa was looking at her with so much care shining on her brown eyes that Rose decided to concede the point.

As they ate in silence, Luisa kept glancing over at her, concerning furrowing her brow.

‘I’m okay, really,’ Rose said, flashing Luisa a soft smile.

‘You don’t look okay,’ Luisa said, reaching across the table to cup Rose’s hand in her own. ‘You look tired, stressed and I know you haven’t been eating right because you look thinner.’

The uncensored worry and _care_ in Luisa’s voice made Rose choke up. But in an effort not to worry Luisa, she swallowed it down. ‘I am fine, really. Stressed, yes. Overworked, definitely. But I am handling it. It is only for a little longer,’ Rose said, putting on a reassuring smile as she squeezed Luisa’s hand.

Luisa chewed on her bottom lip. ‘Okay, but promise me you’ll tell me when it gets too much?’

‘I will,’ Rose said, pressing a kiss to Luisa’s knuckles. ‘I promise.’ She hated lying to Luisa, but she hated worrying the brunette even more. Especially because Luisa had her own problems to deal with right now.

‘I’ll leave you to it then,’ Luisa said as she stood up, gathering the plates.

‘Thank you,’ Rose said before diving back into work.

‘You’re welcome,’ Luisa said as she walked back over to the table, pressing a kiss to the top of Rose’s head. ‘Call when you need anything, okay?’

Rose nodded. ‘I will.’

After the interrupting phone call three weeks ago, neither of them had worked up to courage to say “I love you” again. Rose wasn’t sure why, but the moment just didn’t seem right. So instead they said it with “take care” and “call me”.

Luisa’s visit had left Rose with a smile on her face. She did have more energy after a half-decent night sleep and a healthy breakfast. But even after all that, her smile and energy faded quickly as she continued working.

* * *

Rose swayed dangerously when she got to her feet as the judge entered. She had skipped breakfast again that morning in order to do some last-minute revising. She started to regret that decision as she blinked the bright spots out of her vision.

She took a sip of her terrible courthouse coffee, this was going to be a long day…

* * *

‘Ms. Evans?’

‘Yes, your honor?’ Rose asked, gripping the edge of the table as she got up, blinking against the head rush.

‘Is everything alright?’ the judge asked. But Rose didn’t hear her, because blinking didn’t help get rid of the ever-growing black spots in her vision this time. She started to sway and suddenly the ground was coming at her at an alarming rate.

* * *

Rose groaned as she blinked against the harsh lighting. Her head felt like it was being split open from the inside.

‘She’s awake!’ someone said, sounding very relieved.

‘What happened?’ Rose asked groggily, trying to sit up before realizing that made her head hurt even more.

‘Don’t sit up yet, you fainted,’ a very familiar voice said. Rose just had a little trouble placing it at exactly this moment.

‘When?’ Rose asked, finally managing to get her eyes all the way open to look at the small group of people gathered around her.

The voice she had trouble recognizing earlier had belonged to Sarah, who was holding her feet up, looking at her with concern. She identified the others gathered around her as judge Hastings, the ADA and the court stenographer.

‘About two minute ago,’ Sarah said. ‘We were about to call an ambulance when you started moving again.’

‘Why does my head hurt?’ Rose asked, lifting her hand to feel her forehead, hissing in pain as her fingers came into contact with the split skin on her forehead.

‘You hit it on the table on your way down. You probably have a concussion on top of that cut in your forehead,’ Judge Hastings said.

Rose would have nodded but her head hurt too much.

‘I’ll take her to the ER,’ Sarah said, accepting the icepack from the clerk that had just run in.

‘But…’ Rose protested.

‘Court has been suspended until further notice. You need to get checked out, Ms. Evans,’ Judge Hastings said, smiling at her. ‘And it looks like you could benefit from a couple days off as well.’

‘Have you eaten today?’ Sarah asked.

‘No,’ Rose admitted feebly.

‘Will someone get her a banana and some water?’ Sarah asked, the ADA nodding before taking off.

‘So it was probably low blood sugar that caused this,’ Sarah theorized. ‘That and exhaustion,’ she added, looking sternly at Rose.

Rose groaned and tried to push herself off the ground again, only to be stopped by the judge’s hand on her shoulder.

‘It’s better if you lay down for a little longer, it helps the blood return to the brain. You are not the first one to faint in my courtroom, Ms. Evans, and you won’t be the last,’ Judge Hastings smiled kindly.

‘Are you sure we shouldn’t call an ambulance?’ the ADA whose name Rose couldn’t presently remember asked ass he handed Sarah the food and water.

‘No, she seems clear-headed enough, I’ll take her myself to get her checked out for the concussion. You do still know who our president is, right?’ Sarah asked, breaking off a piece of the banana.

‘Obama,’ Rose answered before accepting the offer of food.

‘Good, you’ll be fine,’ Sarah said, petting her shoulder softly.

* * *

‘What happened?’ Luisa asked as she stormed through the exam room’s door.

‘You called her?’ Rose asked, looking over at Sarah, feeling a little betrayed that Sarah hadn’t told her.

‘Of course I called her!’ Sarah said, looking almost offended that Rose even dare ask her that. ‘She’s your girlfriend.’

‘She fainted and hit her head on the table on the way down,’ Sarah said to Luisa.

Luisa moved to Rose’s side, clasping her hand in her own. ‘How are you feeling?’ she asked, carefully stroking a lock of hair away from Rose’s forehead, avoiding the new cleaned and bandaged cut.

‘Like a Greek goddess is trying to spring forth from my skull,’ Rose groaned.

‘At least she is still witty,’ Sarah smiled.

‘Are you dizzy?’

‘Yes,’ Rose said, having closed her eyes again to keep the keep the room from spinning.

‘She definitely has a concussion,’ Luisa said.

‘Great,’ Rose groaned, just what she needed, more time off work.

‘Well, Ms. Evans,’ the doctor said as she entered the room. ‘It seems it was just low blood sugar that caused your fainting spell, so that is good news. The bad news is that you do have a mild concussion.’

‘What about the cut on her head?’ Luisa asked, still holding Rose’s hand.

‘Sorry, and you are?’ the doctor asked.

‘Sorry, I’m Luisa Alver. Her girlfriend.’

The doctor nodded in understanding before she continued.

‘The butterfly Band-Aid should be enough to close it. It’s so small I don’t think it will scar. Just keep it dry for the next couple of days.’

‘So can she go home?’ Luisa asked, looking between Rose and the doctor.

‘Yes, provided there is someone to keep a close eye on her for the first 24 hours.’

‘I will,’ Luisa said.

‘Do you have any experience with caring for someone with a concussion?’

‘I’m a doctor myself.’

‘Alright, then I don’t have to explain anything to you,’ the doctor smiled. ‘I think Tylenol should be fine to manage the pain.’

Luisa nodded. ‘Thank you, doctor,’ she said, shaking the woman’s hand.

‘No problem, take care.’

* * *

‘Rose, is it okay if we stay at my place?’ Luisa asked as she and Sarah held Rose by the arms while they slowly climbed the stairs of their building. ‘You don’t have any groceries at you place.’

‘Yeah, fine,’ Rose said. The world was spinning, she was nauseous and the Tylenol had yet to kick in so her headache hadn’t faded a bit; she just wanted to lay down. ‘Your bed is softer anyway.’

Luisa and Sarah laughed, and continued leading Rose upstairs.

‘I’m sorry,’ Rose sighed. She needed to say it. It was eating away at her.

‘What for?’ Luisa asked softly.

‘You were right. I wasn’t handling this well.’

‘I know. But that doesn’t matter right now,’ Luisa said. ‘Right now you just need to rest.’

‘I need to call work,’ Rose said weakly.

‘I’ll do it,’ Sarah said. ‘You just listen to your girlfriend and rest. I’ll make sure you get at least the week off.’

‘Thank you,’ Rose said, going for a smile but knowing it probably came off as a little strained.

‘No problem, I hope you feel better soon. And for once try not to be your stubborn self and actually listen to Luisa.’

‘I will. Trust me, I will,’ Rose said. She’d learned her lesson. She had ended up in the _hospital_ because of her refusal to listen to Sarah and Luisa when they told her she was working too much and not taking care of herself.

‘Don’t let her out of your sight!’ Sarah playfully warned Luisa.

‘I won’t,’ Luisa said, walking Sarah to the door.

‘You have a wonderful apartment by the way,’ Sarah said as she stood in the doorway.

‘Thank you, I’ll give you the tour some other time,’ Luisa said.

‘I look forward to it,’ Sarah said, giving Luisa a quick hug.

After Luisa closed the door, Rose saw her shoulders drop before Luisa turned around slowly.

‘You should have told me how much you were struggling,’ Luisa said, tears shining in her eyes.

‘I didn’t want you to worry,’ Rose said softly, guiltily.

‘Guess what, Rose? I am worried!’ Luisa said angrily, wiping the stray tears from her cheeks.

‘I know. I’m sorry,’ Rose said, feeling tears well up in her own eyes. She blamed it on the concussion and the overall emotional exhaustion. Not the fact that Luisa was angry with her and that hurt her because she knew it was all her own fault.

Rose expected more of a scolding but Luisa just silently sat down on the couch next to her, lifting Rose’s feet into her lap.

‘I would hug you if I didn’t think it would make you feel worse,’ Luisa said, her voice a little shaky.

‘I don’t think I can feel worse,’ Rose said, slowly turning herself around so she was resting against Luisa’s chest, her head on the brunette’s shoulder, closing her eyes.

‘You really scared me today,’ Luisa admitted softly, her arms lightly encircling Rose’s stomach, careful not to put too much pressure on any part of Rose’s body.

Rose didn’t know what to say, sorry felt inadequate. She was more than sorry. For so much more than just scaring Luisa. She was sorry for picking her job over Luisa, over herself. For not being there for Luisa. For ignoring her texts and well-meaning messages.

‘I never want to receive a call from Sarah saying that you are in the hospital ever again, you hear me?’ Luisa said, the words coming out choked.

‘Yes. I am sorry I didn’t listen to you. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I am sorry for scaring you,’ Rose said, tears now freely flowing down her cheeks.

‘It’s okay, it’s okay. Shhh,’ Luisa soothed, wiping at Rose’s tears. ‘This is not conductive to your healing process,’ she whispered into Rose’s hair. ‘What you’re going to do is take the week off from work. Stay here where I can keep an eye on you. Make sure you eat and sleep and just get some well-deserved rest.’

‘I don’t think I can eat anything just yet,’ Rose said, she was still feeling queasy, but at least the Tylenol had started working.

‘I’ll offer again in an hour,’ Luisa smiled, pressing a soft kiss to Rose’s hair. ‘In the meantime I’d like to hold you if that’s okay with you. I missed you.’

‘I missed you too,’ Rose said, closing her eyes, she was beyond exhausted and she was being enveloped by Luisa’s smell and her arms. And even with the splitting headache and overall awfulness, she still felt comfortable in Luisa’s embrace.

Luisa woke her up two hours later. Both because the concussion protocol demanded it and because she had just finished making dinner.

‘I made soup,’ Luisa said softly as she stroked up and down Rose’s arms to wake her.

‘Good, I’m starving,’ Rose said, her voice soft from sleep.

‘Sit up a bit,’ Luisa said as she placed a cushion behind Rose’s back to keep her propped up before handing her the bowl of soup.

‘Thank you,’ Rose said. ‘For everything.’

‘Of course,’ Luisa smiled, pecking her softly on the lips, sitting down across from her with her own bowl of soup.

* * *

For the first time in weeks, Rose wasn’t constantly thinking about work. Of course, she did have a near constant headache to deal with and standing up still made her dizzy. But she was eating right and sleeping more and she slowly started to feel like a person again.

And as the days went by and she recuperated on Luisa’s couch or in Luisa’s bed, she realized what she had to do.

She might not like it, but she couldn’t continue like this. Luisa had been right; it was ridiculous that she had to work this much all because of Leon. And it had been a mistake not to go to Hanson directly. So she was going to fix that now.

Luisa had forbidden her from using electronics as that could aggravate her concussion, but she was certain Luisa would forgive her this transgression. Or maybe not, Rose hoped she would. If she went through with it, things would change for the two of them.

She took a minute to think it over another time. Weighing every pro and can, and then she picked Luisa’s laptop up off the coffee table and logged into her email account, her decision made.

* * *

Rose nervously chewed on her bottom lip as she waited for Luisa to come home. The brunette had taken the week off work to spent time with her. Something that only made Rose feel guiltier, because she hadn’t even taken a couple of hours _in the weekend_ to spent time with her girlfriend: Luisa was now officially too good for her.

‘I got the ice-cream you asked for!’ Luisa said as she stepped through the apartment door, arms laden with groceries.

‘Thank you,’ Rose said, working up the nerve to say something. ‘Can you sit for a second, please?’ Rose asked, looking down at her hands.

‘What’s wrong?’ Luisa asked, immediately worried.

‘Nothing. I just need to tell you something,’ Rose said.

‘Okay, what is it?’ Luisa asked, obviously still worried, taking Rose’s hand in her own.

‘I took a leave of absence from work and decided to take my mother up on her offer,’ Rose said in one breath, needing to get it all out in one go.

Luisa was silent for a second. ‘You’re going to Tampa?’ Luisa asked, her voice strained.

‘Yes, just for the duration of the trial,’ Rose said, squeezing Luisa’s hand. ‘I can’t just go back to work after this week is over. I can’t face Leon’s smug face as he realizes he finally got to me. I can’t do it, Luisa.’

‘And working with your mother is the solution?’

Rose had asked herself that very same question in the last couple of days. ‘I don’t know. But she promised she’d let me work independently from her. And it is just one case. I will have plenty of free time to come back here and visit you. I can’t just do nothing, Luisa. That feels too much like hiding.’

‘I understand. It’s just. I’ve grown so used to always being near you. It will be strange when you’re suddenly four hours away.’

‘I know, that’s what I was thinking about too. But I feel like I need to do this.’

‘You have nothing to prove, you know?’ Luisa said, resting her head on Rose’s shoulder. ‘To me, to Leon, to your boss, to your mother. Not even to yourself. You’re a great lawyer. And you have worked so hard. Everyone understands why you would need some time off after this.’

‘I know. I know I have nothing to prove,’ Rose said. ‘But I _want_ to do this.’

‘I’ll miss you,’ Luisa said, wrapping Rose in a tight embrace.

‘I’ll miss you too,’ Rose said softly, nuzzling Luisa’s hair. ‘But it will only be four weeks. And we’ll text and call and we can be modern and skype. And I will visit you as often as I can. Tampa is not that far away.’

Luisa smiled. ‘I know. And if you feel like this is what you must do, then I will support you 100%.’

‘I’m glad,’ Rose said, breathing a little easier now Luisa was okay with it.

She had struggled with the decision exactly because it would split her and Luisa apart. Which after everything Luisa had done for her, was the last thing she wanted. But she couldn’t return to work after the weekend and pretend nothing had happened. She knew it was cowardly, but she wasn’t going to give Leon the satisfaction of winning. So she had to return victorious, meaning she couldn’t just sit on her ass for a month.

‘I’m proud of you, you know?’ Luisa said, hugging Rose closer.

Rose felt her throat close from emotion. So maybe it wasn’t just the concussion that was making her emotional, because that was mostly over now.

‘I remember you saying something about ice-cream?’ Rose said, trying to cover up the fact that she was near tears.

‘I did; do you want some?’

Rose nodded, the head-movement no longer causing her any pain, proving how much she had flourished under Luisa’s expert care.

‘Why don’t you pick a movie while I get the ice cream?’ Luisa said, tossing Rose the remote.

* * *

During the movie they didn’t talk about their impending goodbye, but Rose could feel it hang in the air between them.

It was the first time the atmosphere between the two of them was tense. And Rose didn’t like it at all: didn’t like that it was all because of her. That once again she had chosen the selfish thing and chosen herself, her job over Luisa.

‘I’m sorry I’m being so selfish,’ Rose whispered during a quite scene in the movie.

‘There’s a difference between being selfish and taking care of yourself. This is not you being selfish: you need this.’

Rose nodded and they continued watching the movie in silence for a little longer.

‘When are you leaving?’ Luisa asked when the credits rolled, turning around so she could look at Rose.

‘After your brother’s wedding on Sunday,’ Rose said.

‘So soon?’ Luisa asked.

‘The trail officially starts on Monday.’

‘Well, then we better make the most of the time we’ve got,’ Luisa smiled as she straddled Rose’s hips.

‘Does that mean you’re clearing me, _doctor_?’ Rose grinned, her hands moving to Luisa’s hips of their own accord. She had proposed sex earlier in the week to make up for lost time, but Luisa had refused, afraid of worsening Rose’s condition.

‘Yes. You’re cleared,’ Luisa breathed, kissing down Rose’s neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry... I am actually so sorry. Because this is just mean. I am really sorry.
> 
> You can yell at me for it, I deserve it.
> 
> Thank you for reading and I'll see you next week for Rafael's wedding and a probably tearful goodbye!


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry I am late, life got in the way. But I couldn't leave you hanging so here you go!
> 
> Enjoy the temporary farewell.

‘You look beautiful,’ Rose said softly as she watched the long dress sway around Luisa’s legs.

‘So do you,’ Luisa said, pulling Rose in for a lingering kiss. All their kisses had been lingering these last couple of days. Like they had to make the most of every second they still had left together.

After Luisa had “cleared” her, they had spent every waking moment together. Every other moment too. For the remainder of Rose’s sick leave they had pretty much been inseparable.  Rose’s imminent departure date hanging over them like dark grey storm clouds.

They hadn’t really spoken about it after Rose told Luisa she was leaving. Rose knew it had upset Luisa, but she didn’t know how to bring it up or how to make it better. Because Luisa might have said it wasn’t a selfish decision, but Rose knew it was.

She was leaving Luisa behind because she had messed up and was now too scared to go back and fix it. And that was pretty much the epitome of selfishness.

‘Let’s go, we can’t be late,’ Luisa said as she pulled away from the kiss, intertwining their hands as they descended the stairs.

‘How are you feeling today?’ Luisa asked as they passed the mailboxes and got into the cab waiting for them at the curb.

‘Good. No headache and I am no longer dizzy. Back to normal, really.’

‘Good, that’s good,’ Luisa nodded. ‘I’m glad.’

‘Luisa, I hate this,’ Rose said, no longer able to take the sadness in Luisa’s voice. ‘I’m sorry I am leaving. And I am sorry I didn’t tell you about it before I made the arrangements. I’m sorry it has put such a strain on our relationship. I didn’t mean for that to happen.’

Luisa hung her head, pulling her hand from Rose’s grip and putting it in her lap. The action feeling like a stab to Rose’s heart. ‘I don’t want to argue with you. Not today. It’s my brother’s wedding and you’re leaving after. I don’t want to ruin that by being angry.’

Rose nodded solemnly. ‘But you are angry with me.’

‘I’m not. Maybe a little. But I would have liked it if you would have at least discussed it with me before you decided to skip town. I know that this is a pretty new relationship and you definitely do not need my permission to do anything. But this is kind of a big thing, Rose. And I will miss you. I will miss kissing you when you walk through the door in the evening after you got my mail for me. I’ll miss seeing your face light up when you smile. All because you think that running from your problems is going to solve everything.’

‘I’m not running from my problems,’ Rose said softly, but she knew that was exactly what she was doing. ‘And I will miss you too. But we will be okay. I know that we will be okay. It’s just for a little while.’

Luisa sighed. ‘I know. We will be okay. Let’s just, not talk about it anymore today, okay? I just want to pretend I get to go home with you tonight and fall asleep in your arms.’

‘Okay, we can do that,’ Rose said, putting her arms around Luisa’s shoulders and pulling her closer to her, kissing the crown of Luisa’s head softly. Trying to mend the distance that had grown between them.

‘Thank you,’ Luisa said, covering Rose’s hand with her own as she nestled against Rose’s side.

The rest of the cab ride to the Marbella was spent in silence. But it was not as oppressive as before. Rose and Luisa had both decided to just make the most of their last day together, not wanting to get pulled into an argument.

* * *

‘Let’s go find my brother, knowing him, he is probably freaking out right about now,’ Luisa said as they walked into the beautifully decorated hotel ballroom. Moving around between the guests all waiting for the service to start.

‘Raf?’ Luisa called as she knocked on the door marked “groom”.

‘One second!’ he yelled back, opening the door for them a few moments later. ‘Do you know how to tie this?’ he sighed exasperatedly, motioning to the undone bowtie around his neck. ‘I know how to, but my hands don’t seem to be working today.’

‘Rose knows how to,’ Luisa said as entered the room. ‘You look great, by the way. I like the suit.’

‘You think Petra will like it?’ Rafael said.

‘I’m sure she will,’ Rose smiled as she fixed Rafael’s bowtie for him.

‘Thank you,’ Rafael said, immediately walking off to check his outfit in the mirror.

‘Raf, you look great. Stop pacing,’ Luisa said, putting her hands on her brother’s shoulders when her words had no effect on him. ‘Everything will be great.’

‘What if she doesn’t show up? What if _I_ don’t show up? I have never been great at commitment. What if I can’t do this?’

‘Raf, come on. Get a grip,’ Luisa smiled. Her brother was usually so cool and suave it was quite funny to see him this destressed. ‘She loves you, you love her. You’re going to have a baby! This wedding is going to be great. I know it will.’

Rose didn’t say anything, she didn’t want to intrude on this moment between brother and sister any more than she already had.

‘But what if…’ Rafael trailed off. He hadn’t needed to say what he was thinking. Luisa and Rose both knew what he was thinking.

‘No. Stop it. You’re nothing like our father. Nothing,’ Luisa said forcefully.

Rafael laughed humorlessly. ‘He isn’t even coming today. He sent a card with his regrets.’

‘Good, I didn’t want to see him anyway. We don’t need him,’ Luisa said, brushing a speck of dust off Rafael’s shoulder.

‘Me neither,’ Rafael said.

‘Okay, so are you ready?’ Luisa asked, putting her smile back on.

‘Yeah. Yeah. Let’s go. I wanna get married,’ Rafael said, a wide, loving smile stretching across his features.

‘Great, because I was going to slap you if you said anything else.’

Rafael laughed, quickly hugging his sister. ‘I love you, Lu.’

‘Awww, save it for the altar, Raf,’ Luisa laughed, pushing her brother out of the door, grabbing Rose’s hand as they walked back towards the ballroom together.

‘He seems happy,’ Rose whispered to Luisa.

‘Yeah, he does,’ Luisa smiled, leaning her head against Rose’s shoulder as they took their seats in the front row. ‘Nervous, but definitely happy.’

‘And you, are you happy?’ Rose asked, brushing a loose strand of hair behind Luisa’s ear.

‘For Rafael? Yeah, of course I’m happy for him. I kind of always figured he would get married before me. With the whole gay marriage thing only recently clearing up. And I don’t know Petra very well, but she seems nice. She can definitely handle Rafael. So that’s good,’ she laughed.

Rose smiled, lacing her fingers between Luisa’s, absentmindedly playing with the ring around one of Luisa’s fingers. Imaging a different kind taking its place.

She had never really been the kind of girl to imagine what her wedding would be like. Before she realized she was gay, she had never really wanted to get married. And afterwards it had, until very recently, remained an impossibility. So marriage had always sort of been a non-issue for her. In any past relationship she’d had, she’d never imagined having a wedding. Had never imagined what dress she would wear or who would be waiting for her. Until now.

Right now, she was imagining Luisa in a white dress walking down the aisle towards her. Smiling and looking more beautiful than ever.

She wondered if it was strange to fantasize about getting married this early in the relationship. They hadn’t said that they loved each other yet. And now Rose was moving away, even for a little while, she had the feeling it wouldn’t be said any time soon either.

Rose was shaken from her thoughts about future weddings and “I love you”s when a familiar tune started playing and the large double doors at the far end of the room eased open to reveal Petra, dressed in white and smiling widely.

* * *

‘That was a lovely service,’ Luisa smiled, hugging Rose’s arm closer to her.

‘It was,’ Rose smiled back, tipping Luisa’s chin up to kiss her.

The angle was a little awkward and they were both smiling too wide for it to be much of a kiss, but it was nice none the less. It seemed less desperate than the kisses they had shared in the last couple of days. For the first time, their kiss didn’t remind Rose of the fact that she was leaving. She hoped it could stay that way for a little longer.

‘Come on,’ Luisa said, pulling on Rose’s hand. ‘Let’s go eat. Rafael said the cake was amazing.’

Rose nodded and followed Luisa towards the terrace where the reception would be held, congratulating both Petra and Rafael on their way to their table.

‘So cake, yes?’ Luisa asked.

‘Always,’ Rose smiled. ‘I’ll go get drinks.’ She pecked Luisa quickly on the cheek.

As it was a wedding, there was an open bar. And with Luisa’s recent susceptibility to alcohol and the tension already in the air because of Rose’s imminent departure, Luisa had asked Rose to keep her as far away from the bar as possible.

Rose hated that she was now one on the things that were making Luisa want to drink, and she hated that she wouldn’t be there to help support her for the next couple of weeks. But there was nothing she could do about that now.

She had always been good at keep her heart and head separated, and she knew they would be okay, that Luisa would be okay. But her heart was telling her to stay, to not fall under Elena’s influence again and to just be with Luisa.

But her head had always been stronger, which is why her bags were packed and there was a plane ticket waiting for her on her kitchen counter. So she wouldn’t be going home with Luisa tonight, curl up in bed with her and talk about the wedding and what they would eat for breakfast tomorrow.

Rose sighed, when put like that, she really sounded like an idiot for flying to Tampa tonight.

She shook her head and pushed the thoughts away. No thinking of that right now. She was just going to enjoy this wedding and Luisa’s company for the rest of the day.

When she returned to the table with their two drinks in her hand, Luisa was already halfway through her slice of cake.

‘Thank you for waiting for me,’ Rose smiled as she put Luisa’s drink down in front of her.

‘You were taking forever and I can’t resist cake, Rose,’ Luisa said, washing her last bite down with a sip of sparkling water.

‘I’m just glad you haven’t started on mine yet,’ Rose laughed as she sat down next to Luisa, wiping a speck of icing away from her upper lip.

‘Oh, I have,’ Luisa grinned. ‘This one is yours,’ she said as she pointed at the half-eaten slice in front of her.

‘Funny,’ Rose laughed, pulling the other plate of cake towards her. But Luisa’s fork was posed for an attack, so she carefully redrew her arm.

‘Don’t. You. Dare,’ Luisa said, lightly poking Rose with the fork. ‘That’s mine. But maybe, if you’re nice, I’ll share with you.’ Luisa smiled up at her angelically so Rose gave in.

‘So how nice do I have to be exactly?’

‘ _Very_ ,’ Luisa grinned, spearing a bite of cake on her fork and offering it to Rose.

Rose smiled and leaned in, carefully closing her lips around the offered bite of cake.

‘Mmmh, thank you,’ Rose smiled as she pulled back, licking her lips to get rid of the excess frosting.

‘Will you two stop that? I know it is a wedding, but Petra and I are the only ones who get to be adorably disgusting.’

‘This is not adorable,’ Luisa said, waving her fork around. ‘This is a punishment for Rose taking her sweet time getting me my drink.’

‘That’s true,’ Rose nodded, trying and failing to hide her smile.

‘See? She knows it,’ Luisa smiled, quickly kissing Rose on the cheek.

‘It was a lovely service, Rafael,’ Rose said, putting her arm around Luisa’s shoulders.

‘It really was, Raf, well done. So where’s your wife?’ Luisa said, leaning into Rose’s embrace.

‘She’s talking with some of her friends,’ Rafael said, pointing over his shoulder, his wide smile never fading. ‘But we’re about to start our first dance, and I was sent to ask if the two of you would do us the honor of the second dance?’

Rose and Luisa looked at each other, not needing words to communicate.

‘Yeah, we’d like that,’ Luisa nodded. ‘Rose is a great dancer.’

‘So is your sister,’ Rose said nuzzling into Luisa.

The both of them were being awfully affectionate today, so even if they tried not let Rose’s decision affect the fun they had today, subconsciously it was.

‘Great! I’ll go tell Petra,’ Rafael said happily. ‘I’ll give you a sign when we’re about to start. In the meantime, enjoy your cake,’ Rafael said before dashing off towards his new wife.

‘So I’m guessing you’re going to lead?’ Rose said.

‘Oh, I am definitely going to lead,’ Luisa grinned, feeding Rose another piece of cake.

‘I look forward to it,’ Rose said after swallowing the cake. ‘But the eating would go a lot faster if you gave me my own fork.’

‘But that is not nearly as much fun,’ Luisa smiled and Rose would have to agree.

So Luisa continued to feed Rose bites of cake. And they laughed and talked and just had fun.

Eventually Rafael gave them the sign and they moved to the side of the dancefloor, watching Petra and Rafael dance together for a couple of minutes before joining in.

Luisa took Rose’s hand, dragging her onto the dance floor with a smile.

Rose smiled back, putting her other hand on Luisa’s shoulder as the brunette led them across the room in a slow dance.

The dancing reminded Rose of the only other occasion they had danced together: their one-week anniversary.

It seemed so long ago, so much had happened since. And she would never had guessed she would have ended up where they were now. With her taking a leave of absence from work to co-council on a trial with her mother, four hours away from Luisa.

She didn’t regret her decision. She just wished she hadn’t been forced to make it. And it all hinged on one person: Leon.

He had forced so much work on her she had collapsed in the courtroom, but he was also the person who had brought her and Luisa together in the first place. They might have never started dating if it wasn’t for the brief period they spent fake dating. But that wasn’t enough to make up for the fact that Leon was an awful excuse for a human being and he was now indirectly driving them apart.

‘Is everything okay?’ Luisa asked, smoothing out the wrinkle Rose’s frown had formed between her eyebrows.

Rose set her jaw; they had made a deal, no talking about what would happen after the wedding. So she wouldn’t.

‘Nothing,’ she lied. ‘Just these heels…’

‘Do you want to sit?’ Luisa asked, slowing their movements.

‘No. I wanna dance with you.’ Who knows when I will get the change again, Rose thought. ‘I’ll be fine. Just hold me.’

Luisa nodded, pulling Rose even closer to her so they lined up perfectly. Their bodies so closely pressed together they felt like one.

And that’s when Rose felt the increase in Luisa’s breathing and the slight shaking of her shoulders.

‘I’ll miss you. So much,’ Luisa cried, tightening her grip on Rose, hiding her face in the side of Rose’s neck.

‘I’ll miss you too,’ Rose said, barely managing to speak around the lump in her throat.

‘Don’t go,’ Luisa said, looking up at Rose with tears shining in her eyes.

‘I have to,’ Rose said, her thumbs drying the tears rolling softly down Luisa’s cheeks.

‘No, you don’t. You can stay here, go back to your job. Talk to me about the problems you’re having. Like you do when you are in a relationship, instead of running away from me,’ Luisa said, her words having more force behind them than before. Latent anger seeping through.

‘I am not running from you. I am not,’ Rose said, pouring all her conviction into those words. ‘I would never do that. Please tell me you know that. And this is not a break-up. I- I would never want that. I care way too much about you for that. This is just something I have to do, for myself. I am not happy at work right now, and because of that I was a terrible girlfriend. This, these four weeks, they’re meant to make me forget about that. So that when I come back, I can get back to work and not forget about the plans we made.’

During Rose’s little speech they had stopped dancing, the two of them now standing still on the middle of the dancefloor, still tangled together.

Luisa blinked the tears from her eyes, taking a shaky breath before speaking. ‘Promise you’ll come back?’

‘I promise,’ Rose said, blinking away her own tears. ‘I can’t stand being around my mother for more than four weeks anyway.’

That made Luisa laugh. ‘I still don’t get how going away is going to make anything better. Especially you being a better girlfriend.’

‘I know, Lu. I know. And I am sorry. But I promise, when these four weeks are over. I’ll be back home and we can go on a date and have a sleepover and whatever else you want. I promise you.’

Luisa nodded. ‘Okay. I believe you. But that’s not going to stop me from texting you every hour. And _that_ is not going to stop me from missing you.’

‘It won’t stop me from missing you either,’ Rose admitted, leaning in closer to catch Luisa’s lips in a slow but deep kiss.

When the kiss ended, they yielded the dancefloor to the couples actually dancing on it. The rest of the party was spent not mentioning what had happened on the dancefloor, trying to regain the lighter mood of before. But every passing minute brought them closer to their temporary farewell, and that was a hard thing to shake.

Silence engulfed them as they rode the cab back home, their hands linked but their minds already miles apart.

* * *

Rose sighed as she looked around the apartment she had lived in for only two months, and yet it felt more like home than the city she would be returning to. At that was almost entirely thanks to the brunette who lived two floors above her.

‘Knock knock,’ Luisa said, coming in through the open door. They had briefly split up to change out of their wedding attire and into something more comfortable. Rose thought Luisa still looked as beautiful in jeans and a sweater as she had in the long dress.

‘Are you ready to go?’ Luisa asked, her voice tight like she was forcefully holding back tears.

‘Almost,’ Rose said, waving Luisa over and wrapping her tightly in her arms, resting her chin on top of Luisa’s head.

‘Who’s going to get my mail for me now?’ Luisa squeaked, both from emotion and from how tightly Rose was holding her.

Rose pressed a kiss to the crown of Luisa’s head and eased her grip a little.

‘I got you something,’ she said as took Luisa’s hand and pulled her around the kitchen counter to show her what had been hidden from view before.

‘You got me a stepladder?’ Luisa laughed.

‘Yeah, I did. I mean, it is obviously not as much to talk to.’

‘Or as much fun to climb,’ Luisa added with a small grin.

‘Or that,’ Rose laughed, pulling Luisa into a half-hug. ‘But at least I’ll know that you’re able to get your mail without me.’

‘And yours,’ Luisa said as she held up the spare set of keys Rose had given her.

It was a strange reversal of rolls that Luisa now held her keys instead of she Luisa’s.

‘Do you know how much it meant to me when you gave me your mailbox key?’ Rose said, picking her suitcase up by the handle and walking towards the front door, Luisa still hugged against her side.

‘No, tell me,’ Luisa said as Rose locked her front door behind her. Both of them trying to ignore that they were really leaving now and just focusing on Rose’s story.

‘I couldn’t stop looking at the key, I think I traced it so much then I could still draw it from memory. I had taken it to mean that you trusted me, and as I was crushing on you _hard_ at that point, it made we feel good about myself.’

‘I did give you my key because I trusted you with it, and also because I had a crush on you and wanted to see you more. So, when a cute woman gives you her mailbox key in your new apartment: don’t accept it. My mailbox will know.’

‘I’ll only get your mail from now on,’ Rose smiled, kissing Luisa softly on her cheek. ‘I won’t accept any more mailbox keys.’

‘Good,’ Luisa said, standing up on her toes to kiss Rose back. ‘So does that mean you trust me not to kill your plant?’

Rose laughed. ‘Yes, I do. I am sure you will take better care of it than I ever did. I am terrible at watering plants. It’s a wonder this one is still alive.’

‘That’s because I have been watering it for you. So nothing much has changed, really,’ Luisa smiled.

‘Where would I be without you?’ Rose smiled, her fingers subconsciously ghosting up and down over the bare skin of Luisa’s arm.

‘Working yourself into an early grave. Together with your dead plant,’ Luisa said as she climbed into the cab, never letting go of Rose’s hand. Immediately pulling it back around her shoulders as Rose sat down next to her.

‘I can’t believe you are actually leaving,’ Luisa sighed softly.

‘Me neither,’ Rose answered. And she really couldn’t believe that her life had come to this.

* * *

As soon as they entered the airport, both women realized that they would soon have to say goodbye. But in order to prolong the inevitable, Luisa joined Rose in the check-in queue. They didn’t say anything to each other, they just held hands. Enjoying the small comfort of each other’s touch for as long as they could.

Rose wanted to say so much. She wanted to say she was sorry for leaving, sorry for being selfish. But she had all said it before. She knew Luisa knew all of it. And Rose knew repeating it wasn’t going to make Luisa feel any better. So they just said nothing.

‘I’m going to miss you,’ Rose said, wrapping Luisa in a crushing hug as they stood just before the security line.

‘I’m going to miss you too,’ Luisa said, her brown eyes once again shimmering with unshed tears.

‘I’ll see you next week, okay?’ Rose said, cradling Luisa’s face in her hands, wanting to memorize every little detail.

Luisa nodded. ‘We’re being quite dramatic for two adults in the 21st century who will see each other again next week.’

‘I don’t care,’ Rose laughed. ‘I don’t want pictures; I just want you. And I want to hear you laugh and see you smile. And I want to cook for you and watch terrible movies with you so you can point out all the medical flaws in it.’

‘That was one time, and it really was a ridiculous amount of blood…’ Luisa murmured, making Rose laugh.

‘But we will be okay. I’ll be back soon and we can do all of that.’

‘It just means that I will have to say goodbye to you again next week…’

Rose nodded sadly.

‘Also, you’re going to be hanging out with a serial killer.’

‘Alleged,’ Rose said, earning her a glare from Luisa.

‘I meant your mother,’ Luisa grinned, pretending that was what she was going for all along.

Rose laughed. ‘I have survived years in her presence, I think I can manage four weeks.’

‘Good, because I need you back unscathed.’

‘I will be fine and in five short days I’ll be back.’

‘Just take care of that concussion for me, okay? Call me when you get a headache or start feeling dizzy. As your doctor I should know,’ Luisa said, trying for a small smile.

‘I will, but I am fine. Really.’

‘I know. And we will be fine, too.’ Luisa put her hands on Rose’s waist pulling her closer. ‘But I will still miss you,’ the words were breathed against Rose’s lips, just an inch from touching.

‘And I you,’ Rose said as she closed the distance between them.

Luisa’s hands on her waist tightened as their lips brushed together in a familiar dance.

The kiss was slow, languid. Both of them trying to remain locked together like this for as long as possible. Their lips pushing and pulling, trying to convey the things that had been left unsaid between them this day.

Eventually, Luisa’s tongue darted out to stroke Rose’s bottom lip, wordlessly asking for entrance which Rose gladly granted.

Time didn’t seem to exist as they got lost in the kiss, in the hot, heavy feeling of fitting together so well it was like they were one person.

Rose kept her eyes closed for one second longer as Luisa pulled away, the both of them breathing hard and feeling strangely alone now the kiss had been broken.

When Rose blinked her eyes open, she met Luisa’s sad brown ones. The emotion swirling so close to the surface Rose could tell it was taking Luisa everything she had not to cry.

And suddenly Rose didn’t care if the moment was right or not. She had to say something. She _knew_ she loved Luisa, so why couldn’t she say it?

‘Luisa, I lo-’

‘No,’ Luisa interrupted, shaking her head furiously. ‘No. Don’t say it. It makes it seem like you’re not coming back. Don’t say it now. Say it when you get back. For good. I can’t let you go if you say it now. Please,’ Luisa said, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

‘Okay,’ Rose said, her voice hoarse. She reached out and wiped the tear off Luisa’s cheek. She smiled softly, she understood where Luisa was coming from, but that didn’t mean she didn’t still feel the emotion Luisa had just forbidden her from speaking out loud.

‘Call when you land?’ Luisa asked, still holding Rose’s hand, neither of the ready to let go yet.

‘Of course,’ Rose smiled, leaning in once again to quickly peck Luisa on the lips. ‘I’ll call.’

‘Have a safe flight,’ Luisa said as she finally let their hands drift apart.

‘Get home safe,’ Rose said, taking a step back, needing to put some physical distance between them if she wanted to go through with this plan. Because she had never imagined she would form attachments this quickly, making it so hard for her to leave after just two short months.

They didn’t say anything else, neither of them trusting their voice. And besides, everything had been said. Or not said.

Rose looked back over her shoulder as she stepped into the security line, looking at Luisa’s lone figure waving at her.

She waved back, putting on a brave smile she didn’t really feel before turning her head and not looking back.

It was just for a little while; she would be back in Luisa’s arms soon enough. But strangely enough, that didn’t help her feel any better as she watched Miami’s many lights fade into the distance from the small plane window, and Luisa with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Rose really did leave, for now. I promise she'll come back. There's just some stuff that needs to happen in between.
> 
> If you liked it please leave a comment, they really keep me going. Especially when life gets busy!  
> Thank you for reading! I wouldn't be here without all of you!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm a day late, school is already kicking my ass one week in. But one day is honestly not the worst I have ever done, so sort of yay?
> 
> Anyways, enjoy this fluff fest of a chapter!

Rose felt a smile spread across her face as she spotted Luisa’s face in the small crowd gathered inside the arrivals hall, waiting for friends, family or loved ones.

She had told Luisa that it wasn’t necessary to pick her up and that she would just take a cab back from the airport. But it seemed Luisa hadn’t listened to her.

Luisa’s face lit up as well as she spotted Rose.

‘I missed you,’ Rose smiled, dropping her bag on the ground before she wrapped her arms tightly around Luisa’s shoulders.

‘I missed you, too,’ Luisa said, her own arms pulling Rose even tighter against her.

When they pulled back from the hug, Rose leaned in for a kiss. She had missed that more in the last week than she had expected. More so than in the first week.

The first week had been alright, really. It was easier than the both of them had expected to be apart. They had called a lot, texted a lot and at night they usually skyped to discuss their day.

Of course, it wasn’t nearly the same as seeing Luisa at the end of the day, to kiss her hello and sit down on the couch together with a cup of tea. But it wasn’t nearly as bad as either of them had expected.

The second week had been a bit more hectic, the trial really coming to fruition. So they hadn’t talked as much as the week before. Which just meant that Rose was extra glad to be home now, to just do nothing with Luisa for the upcoming two days.

‘I thought I told you not to pick me up,’ Rose smiled, not minding Luisa’s disobedience in the slightest.

‘No, you told me not to take a cab to the airport. So I didn’t,’ Luisa grinned, linking her hand with Rose’s as they walked towards to exit.

‘So how then did you get here, exactly?’

‘I stole a car,’ Luisa grinned.

‘You did what?’ Rose asked, raising an eyebrow.

‘I stole a car. It’s Rafael’s. He knows I took it.’

‘You and I have a very different definition of “stealing”,’ Rose laughed.

‘I just couldn’t let you take a cab home by yourself,’ Luisa smiled, pushing herself up on her toes to peck Rose on the cheek.

‘Well, I am very grateful,’ Rose smiled, squeezing Luisa’s hand in return.

‘When we get home you can show me just how much,’ Luisa said slyly.

‘Oh, I will. But first let me see that car you stole.’

‘You don’t get to judge me for the car’s douchey-ness. That’s all Raf.’

‘It’s a convertible, isn’t it?’ Rose grinned.

‘It’s Miami, of course it is a convertible.’

‘And it is _red_ ,’ Rose grinned as Luisa opened the door for her.

‘That it definitely is. It is a real douche-y car.’

‘But you look great driving it,’ Rose smiled.

‘Do I? Maybe I can convince Rafael to lend it to me a little longer…’ Luisa mused, tapping her chin in consideration as her eyes sparkled with amusement.

‘The street parking at our building is terrible.’

‘I know,’ Luisa sighed. ‘That’s why I do not have a car.’

‘So you should probably return this one to Rafael. How is he doing by the way?’

‘Well, he looked very relaxed after his two-week honeymoon. He seems happy.’

‘Good. That’s good,’ Rose smiled. ‘So have you been this week?’

‘Let’s save that conversation until we’re home. This car is very loud.’

‘It really is,’ Rose said, raising her voice to overpower the wind and the noise of the cars on the road around them.

So instead of talking, she just watched Luisa, which was fine with her as that was what she had missed most the last week.

Luisa looked beautiful; her hair blowing in the wind, her features illuminated by the street lights and her smile getting even wider as their eyes met.

‘Will you stop grinning?’ Luisa said, playfully smacking Rose in the arm.

‘No, I missed you. I am just glad I am back so I can look at you again,’ Rose grinned. The ban on “I love you” was still in place, after all. Because after this weekend was over, she would fly back to Tampa for the remaining two weeks of the trial.

‘That’s so cheesy, Rose,’ Luisa replied, barely keeping her own grin under control.

‘I know,’ Rose said, not caring in the slightest. She was really glad she was back home with her amazing girlfriend.

It wasn’t that Tampa was bad, it was actually quite enjoyable. Her mother was behaving surprisingly well, respecting her opinions and actually using her input. Her temporary colleagues were alright. Not nearly as great as Sarah, but not half as bad as Leon. And as she only had one case to work on, she had plenty of time to talk to Luisa.

‘I’m glad I get to look at you again, too,’ Luisa said quietly.

‘Who’s being cheesy now?’ Rose teased gently.

‘Oh, look we’re here,’ Luisa said loudly as she parked the car.

‘We’re around the corner of our building,’ Rose said, raising an eyebrow.

‘Close enough,’ Luisa shrugged. ‘I probably won’t find parking in front of our building anyway. And besides, you have been sitting still for so long the exercise will do you good.’

‘Yes, doctor,’ Rose smiled, taking Luisa’s hand again as they walked home together.

‘So, as you’re back home, care to do the honors?’ Luisa said as she handed her keys to Rose, motioning to the mail boxes with her head.

‘Of course,’ Rose laughed, getting Luisa’s mail before getting her own. ‘So I take it the stepladder is not really working for you?’

‘It makes me feel like a tiny kid a little too much. Besides, it is not like I get a lot of time sensitive things in the mail anyway.’

Rose laughed, brushing her lips against Luisa’s cheek for a second before handing her the stack mail. She had missed the small things, the touches, the kisses, the looks.

‘So your place or mine?’ Rose asked as she started walking up the stairs. Luisa quickly catching up and tangling their hands together again. If they only had 48 hours together, she was going to make damn sure they were touching for as many of those as she could, and it really was the small things that made it so enjoyable.

‘Well, you definitely need to check on your plants, so…’ Luisa said, badly hiding her excitement

Which in turn made Rose a little suspicious. ‘What did you do?’

‘Nothing! Nothing! I swear. I did nothing,’ Luisa said, pacifyingly putting up her one free hand. ‘Scouts honor.’

Rose narrowed her eyes. ‘I don’t believe you…’

‘I swear I did nothing bad,’ Luisa said.

‘Aha! So you did do something!’ Rose said triumphantly.

‘Gee, I can see why you are such a sought-after lawyer, miss Evans. Nothing gets by you,’ Luisa teased.

‘What did you do?’ Rose asked before turning the key in her lock, looking back at Luisa.

‘I did not burn the place down if that’s what you are thinking.’

‘That is what I am thinking _now_ ,’ Rose sighed.

‘Just open the door, the surprise is ruined anyway.’

Rose would disagree with that statement as she still had no idea what to expect, but she was rather curious about what Luisa had done to her apartment so she left that debate for another time and opened her door.

At first glance her apartment looked exactly as she had left it last week: nothing out of the ordinary. She turned to Luisa again, raising an eyebrow.

Luisa didn’t say anything, just walked past her, halting in the middle of the room and spreading her arms. Urging Rose to look around.

Rose amusedly shook her head, looking around the room again: nothing had changed. Her apartment was in tiptop shape, definitely not set on fire. The only thing she could see was that Luisa had moved her potted plant from her desk to the end of the kitchen counter.

‘You moved my plant? Really, Lu? That was the big surprise?’ Rose laughed as she walked into the room, closing the door behind her.

‘Oh no, the plant was just a decoy,’ Luisa said, a gleeful grin spreading across her face. ‘Rose, meet Buddy. Your goldfish.’

‘My what now?’ Rose asked as she turned to the side. Only now noticing the plant had been strategically placed to hide a large, glass fishbowl from view. ‘You got me a goldfish?’ Rose asked as she dropped her bag to the floor and walked over to give “Buddy” a closer inspection.

Not that there was much to inspect. He was a normal orange goldfish, swimming around in a bowl of water with a flimsy plant as decoration.

‘Yes, I did,’ Luisa said as she joined Rose. ‘He’s your replacement for the duration of the trial. That’s why I named him after you. His full name is Rosebud Evans. Buddy for short.’

‘Well, I am glad that there is someone here to take care of you in my absence,’ Rose said, a grin forming on her own face in reactions to Luisa’s childlike glee.

‘Oh, he’s a great conversationalist,’ Luisa nodded seriously.

‘I bet,’ Rose laughed, stepping closer to Luisa and wrapping her arms around the brunette’s waist. ‘I can’t believe you got me a fish,’ she whispered into Luisa’s ear as she hugged her closer.

‘You’re keeping it, right?’ Luisa asked.

‘Of course, Buddy is part of the family now,’ Rose laughed. ‘Besides, you’re the one that has to take care of him for the upcoming two weeks.’

‘I did not think this plan through…’

‘No, you didn’t,’ Rose laughed. ‘But that’s okay. I still l-’

‘Nu-uh,’ Luisa interrupted. ‘Not for another two weeks.’

‘I still like you a lot,’ Rose corrected, pecking Luisa on the lips.

‘Good. I still like you a lot too,’ Luisa grinned. ‘Even if you have me take care of your fish for you.’

Rose laughed, hiding her face in the crook of Luisa’s neck. ‘You’re _such_ a great girlfriend.’

‘I know!’ Luisa smiled. ‘So make some tea and go tell your awesome girlfriend all about the week you’ve had.’

‘Coming right up,’ Rose smiled. It was good to be home.

‘Sit and cuddle,’ Luisa ordered when Rose carried two steaming mugs of tea over to the couch.

‘Yes, ma’am,’ Rose said, doing a mock salute.

‘Do not call me that. It is _not_ sexy,’ Luisa said as she scooted into Rose’s arms.

‘Sorry,’ Rose said, nuzzling Luisa’s hair softly. Picking up the familiar, fruity scent of Luisa’s shampoo.

‘So have you started fake dating anyone yet to get that annoying colleague of your back?’

‘The opportunity has not yet presented itself,’ Rose grinned.

‘Auch,’ she groaned when Luisa’s elbow connected painfully with her ribs. ‘You know I would never do that,’ Rose apologized. ‘I have a really beautiful, perfectly real girlfriend right here. And as soon as I told him about you, he respectfully backed off.’

‘Good,’ Luisa said. ‘What is it with you and having men hit on you at work?’

‘Well, I _am_ incredibly hot,’ Rose said casually, flicking a lock of hair over her shoulder.

‘And so humble too,’ Luisa laughed, turning around so she and Rose were now face to face. The shift had also caused their bodies to line up in a very enticing way.

‘So,’ Luisa said, her eyes a little darker than they had been before. ‘Did anything else interesting happen?’

‘Not that I can remember. It was just work mostly. How was your week? How was AA?’

‘My week was boring. I miss lunches with you, they were a great way to procrastinate paperwork. And AA is good. I am doing okay. Have not had the urge to drink at all.’

‘I’m proud of you,’ Rose smiled, bringing one hand up to cup Luisa’s cheek, her thumb softly stroking the hard bone underneath the perfect skin.

‘For procrastinating my paperwork?’ Luisa smiled, deliberately obtuse.

‘Yes,’ Rose husked. ‘Exactly for that reason.’ She pulled Luisa closer, their lips moving together. Slowly at first but the kiss quickly grew heated, their hands roaming freely as their tongues got reacquainted. It wasn’t just their talks and lunches they had missed out on the 5 days Rose had been away.

‘Are there any more surprises waiting for me in my bedroom?’ Rose asked breathlessly as Luisa started unbuttoning her shirt.

‘No,’ Luisa answered, equally breathless.

‘Great,’ Rose smiled, scooping Luisa up in her arms and carrying her over to the bedroom. Kicking the door closed behind her.

* * *

‘So you’re enjoying working for your mother?’ Luisa asked, tightening her grip on Rose’s stomach slightly.

‘It’s alright. Our client is definitely a creep and my mother is a little more accepting, but she is still my mother. I like the work.’

‘More than you like it here?’ Luisa asked, her voice had a strange edge to it.

Rose turned in Luisa’s arms, stroking a lock of hair away from Luisa’s face, smoothing the frown between her lover’s brows.

‘What makes you say that?’

‘It’s just,’ Luisa said, taking a deep breath before continuing. ‘You seem so much more relaxed. So much happier.’

‘That’s because I am co-counsel on _one_ case. I am not even the primary. If I were to work there full-time, I would be just as busy there as I was here. Don’t worry about that. I will definitely come back in two weeks.’

‘But if it makes you happy…’

‘Luisa, look at me,’ Rose said, tipping Luisa’s chin up so their gazes met. ‘You make me happy. I am not going to stay in Tampa after the trial is over. I promise. My life is here. And I will figure things out at work.’

‘Good,’ Luisa sniffed, obviously trying to hold back tears. ‘Because I would miss you a lot.’

‘I’m not going anywhere,’ Rose whispered, hugging Luisa tighter and kissing her sweetly. ‘Because I really, really, _really_ like you.’

Luisa laughed. ‘I really, really like you too.’

‘I had three reallies,’ Rose joked.

Luisa rolled her eyes. ‘I really, really, really, _really_ like you too. Happy now?’

‘Really happy,’ Rose grinned, kissing Luisa again to stop her from rolling her eyes.

‘So what are you going to do about Leon?’ Luisa asked, playing with the ends of Rose’s hair.

‘Can we not talk about him while we’re naked in bed?’ Rose groaned.

‘Sorry. But I don’t want to lose happy, relaxed Rose when you go back to work at the firm in two weeks.’

Rose sighed. She had no idea what she was going to do about Leon. She had no doubt that he would continue on with his harassment. As he had made clear before, Hanson did not see a problem with it and he technically wasn’t breaking any rules. So, so far, she had nothing.

‘I don’t know yet. I doubt a complaint will be effective. Let’s just hope he has matured in the month I have been gone. Maybe he has even found himself a girlfriend and can finally stop hitting on me.’

‘I feel sorry for that poor girl. But if it gets his attention of you, I am all for it,’ Luisa said. ‘Maybe Sarah has some news on the subject.’

‘Okay, new rule. Can we not talk about _any_ of my colleagues while we’re naked in bed together?’

‘Fine, let’s just make use of the fact that we’re naked in bed together than,’ Luisa grinned, rolling on top of Rose and catching her lips in another heated kiss.

* * *

Rose woke up with a smile on her face the next morning. It wasn’t that she had forgotten how nice it was to wake up in Luisa’s arms. It was more that it always surprised her how nice it _actually_ was. How safe she felt, how _wanted_ and loved she felt when she was all cuddled up with Luisa.

She moved a little, trying to get out of Luisa’s embrace to make them breakfast. But Luisa only hugged her tighter, making it impossible for her to get up.

‘Don’t go,’ Luisa murmured, her eyes still closed and her voice heavy from sleep.

‘I was going to make you breakfast in bed,’ Rose said, kissing Luisa’s forehead softly.

‘Just stay in bed,’ Luisa said groggily, not loosening her grip for a second. ‘I just wanna lay in bed with you all day.’

‘That might require food, babe. I promise I will be back in bed shortly.’

Luisa whined something into Rose’s neck but let her go.

‘Don’t take too long!’ she yelled after her.

Rose laughed, knowing that Luisa would get impatient within five minutes anyway and join her in the kitchen.

And indeed, 6 minutes later, a still sleepy Luisa walked out of the bedroom, wearing absolutely nothing.

‘You’re taking too long,’ she mumbled as she walked up to Rose and wrapped her arms around her waist and buried her face in the crook of Rose’s neck.

‘It takes more than six minutes to prepare breakfast.’

‘It doesn’t if the breakfast is cereal.’

‘Do you really want cereal?’ Rose asked with an amused smile.

‘What I want is you back in bed with me,’ Luisa said, the words still murmured against Rose’s skin.

Rose smiled, Luisa was adorable when she was still groggy from sleep. It always took her a long time to properly wake up in the weekends.

‘If you help me cook, I’ll be back in bed with you sooner,’ Rose offered. ‘You might want to put something on first.’

‘Bed. Now,’ Luisa said, pulling on Rose’s hand to lead her back to the bedroom.

‘Lu. I’m hungry. We should eat something.’

‘I wanna cuddle with you,’ Luisa said, starting to pout. ‘I have wanted to all week, and now you are finally here and you won’t.’

‘You can’t guilt trip a lawyer.’

‘Just did,’ Luisa said under her breath as she pulled Rose back into the bedroom with her and didn’t let her go for over an hour.

* * *

‘So what do you want to do for the rest of the day?’ Rose asked as she finished her omelet, putting her empty plate on the nightstand before leaning closer to Luisa for another cuddle session.

She understood now where Luisa was coming from: they would have to go without for another five days soon, so it was a smart idea to compensate for that when they had the chance.

‘Sarah asked if you wanted to do lunch after you’re done “cuddling” with me.’

Rose frowned. ‘When did she ask that?’

‘Just now,’ Luisa said, holding up her phone. ‘And she did not call it cuddling,’ Luisa added with a grin.

‘Oh god,’ Rose groaned as she read Sarah’s text. ‘The two of you are going to be the death of me.’

‘Just be glad I didn’t follow her suggestion yesterday.’

‘Do I even want to know?’ Rose asked, her face already halfway buried in her pillow.

‘She suggested I should pick you up from the airport wearing a trench coat. And _only_ a trench coat.’

The mental image that conjured up in Rose’s mind was far from unpleasant. But she was still glad Luisa had worn clothes to the airport. Especially if Sarah knew of the plan.

‘The plan was only foiled because I do not own a trench coat,’ Luisa grinned, tugging playfully on Rose’s hair.

‘Thank god for that,’ Rose groaned into her pillow. ‘You and Sarah should not talk this much.’

‘We just do it so you are forced to come back every weekend. Our unsupervised hangouts are even worse,’ Luisa winked.

‘Oh god. I do not even want to know what you talk about.’

‘So yes or no to lunch with Sarah?’ Luisa said, grinning widely.

‘Yes…’ Rose sighed. ‘I promised I’d see her this weekend. I missed her.’

‘Aww, she missed you too,’ Luisa said, reading from her phone.

‘Are you texting her right now?’

‘Yes, she says 1 PM at that one coffee place.’

‘And?’ Rose sighed, knowing there must have been a second part to that sentence.

‘If we can stop our wardrobes malfunction long enough to make it to the restaurant that is.’

‘Will you please tell her we have not only been having sex for the past 15 hours?’

‘We have been naked for the largest part of those. Do you want me to include that?’

‘Please don’t,’ Rose groaned, swinging her legs over the side of the bed, ready to get in a shower and meet Sarah for what was probably going to be a lunch filled with Sarah and Luisa winking at each other.

‘Too late,’ Luisa grinned as she pressed send before following Rose into the bathroom.

‘You should really listen to your girlfriend _over_ your girlfriend’s colleague,’ Rose pouted.

‘But you’re so cute when you pout,’ Luisa said, pecking Rose on the cheek to placate her. ‘So, shower?’

‘Fine,’ Rose sighed, pretending to be annoyed. ‘Try not to drown,’ she added as she stepped underneath the pre-heated spray.

‘What? Ooohhh,’ Luisa said, an understanding grin spreading across her face as she entered the shower after Rose. ‘I haven’t drowned yet.’

‘Let’s keep that streak going,’ Rose grinned, throwing her head back as Luisa started kissing down her body.

* * *

‘Only 10 minutes late, new record!’ Sarah said as Rose and Luisa finally walked into the coffee shop.

‘Thank you, we try,’ Luisa grinned.

‘If it had been up to her, we would have been much, much later,’ Rose said as she sat down.

‘I thought that was what we were trying to do,’ Luisa grinned.

‘Yeah, you were!’ Sarah said, high-fiving Luisa.

Rose rolled her eyes. ‘What are you? 15-year-old boys?’

‘Ew, gross. 15-year-old boys are the worst,’ Luisa said, her face adorably scrunched up.

‘So don’t high five because of sex ever again. Thank you very much,’ Rose said, picking up a menu.

‘I have missed you too, Evans,’ Sarah said, grinning widely as she stood up. ‘Give me a hug.’

‘I missed you too, Sarah,’ Rose said as she returned the tight embrace.

‘It is not the same at the office without you. Kate refuses to buy me coffee.’

‘That is because Kate is sensible and knows you drink too much of the stuff,’ Rose said.

‘That is exactly why I miss you so much,’ Sarah grinned.

‘So how is everything at the office?’ Rose asked, looking down at the table.

‘Everyone was seriously worried when you collapsed in the courtroom. And everyone misses you. Even if we are super jealous of you working on the case of the century.’

‘And Leon?’ Rose asked, she didn’t really want to know, but she had to.

‘No change. He is still a huge douche.’

‘He thinks he won…’ Rose said, dejectedly stirring her coffee.

‘The only thing he won is the worst guy on the planet award.’

‘He’s going to be even worse when I get back.’

‘That is not even possible. He can’t get any worse. He landed you in the hospital, Rose,’ Luisa said, covering Rose’s hand with her own.

‘That was more on me ignoring your advice than it was on Leon.’

‘The only reason you needed advice like “sleep” and “eat”, was because he was trying to bury you in terrible cases,’ Sarah added.

‘I still should have listened to you.’

‘Oh, we are definitely not disagreeing on that. You should definitely listen to me.’

‘And me,’ Luisa added. ‘I’m the girlfriend.’

‘Yes, listen to your girlfriend. But Leon is a dick and should not be allowed out in the human world.’

Rose laughed. ‘He probably shouldn’t. But there is nothing to prevent him from burying me in cases again when I come back.’

‘Except Hanson. When you come back, you will have won the trial of the century. Hanson will have to keep Leon from shoving crap cases your way. You no longer need the experience, Rose. Leon’s whole basis for operation will be gone.’

‘If I win,’ Rose said, doubt creeping into her voice.

‘Is there any indicator you are not going to? Your mother seems to be on top of things,’ Sarah said, not looking worried in the slightest.

‘I don’t know, there’s a lot of evidence. And the public is convinced of his guilt.’

‘Don’t give in to that. You are gonna nail this case and return victorious so Leon can go mope in the copying room.’

‘Thanks, Sarah,’ Rose smiled tiredly. She really didn’t want to have to face Leon again, but her relationship with Luisa more than made up for that. She would face Leon every day if that meant she got to go home and see Luisa.

‘But let’s stop talking about Leon for now,’ Luisa said, knowing it was making Rose uncomfortable.

‘Yes, please. Please do tell me more about all those wardrobe malfunctions.’

‘You know what? Let’s go back to Leon,’ Rose said, taking a sip of her coffee.

‘Not a chance,’ Luisa and Sarah laughed, high-fiving again.

* * *

‘Tell me you are not going to miss this?’ Luisa said, swinging their linked hands between them as they walked across the beach.

‘You know I will be back here next Friday right? And Tampa _has_ beaches.’

Luisa scoffed. ‘Tampa’s beaches suck.’

‘Got it,’ Rose laughed, nuzzling closer to Luisa. ‘This beach is much nicer. They also have much tastier ice cream here.’

‘You bet they do,’ Luisa smiled, putting on her best puppy dog eyes for Rose.

‘I’ll buy you one,’ Rose laughed, she would have gotten Luisa one even without the theatrics. ‘Come on,’ she said as she pulled Luisa towards the end of the beach where they had bought ice cream on their first date. It felt like a lifetime ago.

‘You remember what I want, right?’

‘Of course,’ Rose smiled. ‘Chocolate and cherry in a cup so you can mix them together.’

‘That why I lo… like you so very much,’ Luisa corrected.

‘Can we just say it?’ Rose laughed, squeezing Luisa’s hand.

‘No,’ Luisa said firmly. ‘I want to, but not yet.’

‘Lu, come one. It is not because I am leaving now. And I wanna say it. Because I feel it. I lo-’

Luisa interrupted her by pressing a kiss to Rose’s lips. ‘Not yet. But I really, really, really like you too.’

‘You’re weird,’ Rose laughed.

‘No, you’re weird. How hard is it to follow one simple instruction?’

‘Very hard when my very beautiful girlfriend is concerned,’ Rose laughed, kissing Luisa back.

‘It’s just for two more weeks,’ Luisa said. ‘And it will be nice to hear it then. Because it means I won’t have you all to myself for only two days a week, but I can have you the whole week.’

‘I think our bosses might object to that,’ Rose smiled.

‘Who needs bosses?’ Luisa shrugs. ‘I just need ice cream.’

‘That’s coming right up,’ Rose said, her thumb rubbing soft circles across Luisa’s knuckles as they joined the queue, not wanting to let go of Luisa even know.

They still had a small 24 hours together before she would be back on a plane to Tampa, away from home for another week. It was strange how quickly Miami had become her home. She had lived her whole life in Tampa, and after just three months, Miami felt more like home than Tampa had ever done. And that was all thanks to the woman holding her hand right now, the woman she loved.

Because she knew she loved Luisa, and she knew Luisa loved her back. And that is was only Luisa’s rule was preventing them from saying it to each other.

Rose understood where Luisa was coming from. When she had attempted to say it two weeks ago, moments before disappearing onto a plane, the timing _had_ been wrong. But right now, when they were pretty much reliving their first real date, why couldn’t she say it now?

But she knew it meant a lot to Luisa, to say “I love you” when she was permanently back. So Rose wasn’t going to push the issue. Besides, it was not like she couldn’t show it in other ways. Their ridiculous _I really, really, really like you_ ’s. The _take care’_ s. The _sweet dreams_ ’. They all meant the same thing. Rose said it without words when she kissed Luisa, when they held hands, and definitely when they had sex. So honestly, waiting two more weeks wasn’t that big of a deal. She could do that.

‘So, is there any chance you’re wearing that black bikini underneath your clothes?’ Luisa asked as she spooned her ice cream mixture into her mouth.

‘Sadly no,’ Rose smiled. ‘But if you want to recreate our first date, we can skip ahead a couple of hours and go back to your place,’ Rose said suggestively.

‘You are coming in straight away, right?’ Luisa said teasingly.

‘After feeding Buddy, I’m all yours,’ Rose smiled, kissing the chocolate cherry taste away from Luisa’s lips. These 48 hours together were just enough to sustain her until next Friday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this fluffy chapter, and I will hopefully see you next week.
> 
> If you did like it, please leave a comment. They mean so much to me! 
> 
> And as always thanks for reading!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry I am late, this chapter was seriously conspiring against me. But it is not even an entire week late, so score?
> 
> This chapter should be rated M for some phone/cyber sex antics going on. Because you know, why not?
> 
> Enjoy!

Rose walked to her office that Monday morning completely relaxed. Not having to think about work or the case for two whole days was an absolute blessing. And so was seeing Luisa.

She fetched her phone from her pocket to send Luisa a good morning text, knowing that Luisa would also be on her way to work by now.

Rose @ 7:47 AM  
Good morning! How’s traffic?

Luisa <3<3<3 @ 7:47 AM  
Hell. Not moving at all and I am going to be late. Still jealous of you living within walking distance of your office.

Rose @ 7:48 AM  
One of the many perks of a temporary job. So other than the traffic, how are you doing? How did you sleep?

Luisa <3<3<3 7:48 AM  
I miss waking up next to you. And that there isn’t coffee waiting for me when I get up. I really miss that.

Rose chuckled, she was about to respond she missed Luisa too when she walked into her office and everyone was running around and screaming.

Confused as to what was going on, Rose slipped her phone back into her pocket without answering Luisa.

She caught a speeding intern by the arm, hoping to find out what had everyone so agitated.

‘What’s going on?’ she asked the young blonde whose name she was pretty sure was Angela.

‘You don’t know?’

Rose shook her head. She had absolutely no clue.

‘The witness testimony is back in. Everyone is scrambling to come up with a new defense,’ Angela explained before running off again.

Rose silently cursed; that was not good. At all. The thrown-out witness testimony was the only thing that gave them a shot at winning this. Now it was back in, the evidence easily surpassed circumstantial and they were in for a real deal of trouble.

‘Why did no one call me?’ Rose muttered to herself. She was second chair on this, someone should have called her even before it happened. As soon as it was in doubt, she should have been notified. And she hadn’t.

She flew up the stairs to Elena’s office, needing to know how exactly it had happened and what they were in for.

‘What happened?’ Rose asked as she walked into Elena’s office. Most people inside it not even bothering to look up from the veritable mountain of paperwork surrounding them.

‘Oh, look who decided to grace us with her presence,’ Elena said tersely.

Rose frowned. ‘I wasn’t aware anything had happened. No one called to notify me,’ Rose said, trying not to sound too annoyed. Elena got a kick out of belittling her in front of her coworkers. So the best course of action was to just ignore and continue on like she normally would.

‘What do you mean no one called you?’ one of the other partners, Oscar, said.

Rose hadn’t known he was working on the case as well. But maybe the trouble was so big they had needed him to step in. But then again, no one had even bothered to tell her that the evidence had been thrown out in the first place.

‘As I said, I have no missed messages. No one called me.’

‘I knew you were in Miami visiting your neighbor.’

‘Girlfriend,’ Rose bit out, she hated it when Elena referred to Luisa as “just” her neighbor. Especially because Elena _knew_ Luisa was her girlfriend. She just refused to acknowledge it. But Rose was a grown woman now and she did not have to take the constant mislabeling anymore.

‘Regardless,’ Elena interjected. ‘You weren’t here.’

‘I could have been here in four hours!’ Rose said, trying to remain calm but being purposefully left out of the loop like this stung. It felt like she was being set up for failure here.

‘Someone should have called her, Elena,’ Oscar said, flipping through a file. ‘Hell, you brought her in on this. You should have called her. It’s her case.’

Rose was about to thank Oscar for his support when Elena flippantly waved her hand and handed Rose a file from the pile on her desk.

‘She’s here now. Better get up to speed.’ Declaring the discussion over.

Rose held back a sigh; it was something she guessed.

* * *

By lunch it became apparent just how much trouble they were in. The foundation had just been kicked out from underneath their defense and they basically had to start all over again, two weeks in. Meaning they couldn’t take back what had already been said or completely abandon they strategy they had been employing.

Rose still wasn’t entirely certain _why_ the evidence had been allowed back in after Elena had gotten it thrown out. But it didn’t matter. All they could do now was search for earlier discarded theories and pieces of evidence that could work in their favor. Because the law wasn’t changing.

So that was exactly what Rose was doing. She had been so absorbed in that task that the sudden jingle of her ringtone startled her.

A terrible sense of déjà vu washed over her as she saw Luisa’s face smile up at her from her phone screen. She had completely forgotten to text Luisa back after she had gotten the news about the case.

‘Hey, I am so sorry for ignoring you. Again,’ Rose said, rubbing her brow.

‘That’s what I get for dating a workaholic,’ Luisa said, and Rose could hear she was smiling.

She felt a little less bad about forgetting about Luisa now. Just a little, because she did not want a repeat of what had transpired a month earlier. When she had ignored Luisa and her advice and as a result ended up in the hospital.

‘I am still sorry,’ Rose said.

‘So what’s got you so busy? Normally you at least respond to my texts.’

So Rose explained, walking the tightrope of attorney/client privilege, that a key piece of evidence had been allowed in and they now had to overhaul their entire strategy.

‘That sounds bad,’ Luisa mused. ‘Especially that Elena refused to call you.’

‘Yeah, that was strange. She wanted me on this case. And now she is trying to keep my out of it. I don’t understand her, probably never will. Anyway, how are you?’

‘You know, the usual. Women are pregnant, I look at ultrasounds. Nothing interesting really.’

‘I could listen to you talk about non-interesting things all day,’ Rose smiled.

‘Hmm, can you now?’

Rose chewed on her lip. She knew what this conversation would lead to; Luisa’s tone said it all.

In the two weeks that Rose had been gone, Luisa had gotten a little _creative_ with their communications. And normally Rose would never protest this, but she was already behind on this case thanks to Elena’s refusal to call her and she really needed to catch up.

‘I would really, _really_ like to do this with you, but not at work.’

‘You sure? You sound stressed and in need of something to _distract_ you,’ Luisa practically purred.

‘I am not sure it is a distraction I need right now,’ Rose sighed, looking at the pile of files on her desk. ‘Besides, I can just think back 24 hours and relive those moments.’ The memories of that Sunday morning were still very vivid in her mind.

‘That was a good way to wake up,’ Luisa said and Rose could hear the smile in her voice.

‘It was,’ Rose said, trying to shake the memory and regain her focus.

‘It’s a shame you are not interested. I was sort of looking forward to this. I mean, I got all dressed up for you this morning,’ Luisa pouted.

Rose bit her lip, she was _not_ going to do this now. She had to work. She was already woefully behind thanks to Elena’s antics.

Luisa noticed Rose’s silence and was not having it.

‘You’re not even going to ask what I am wearing? You are _terrible_ at phone sex, Ms. Evans.’

‘I am afraid that if I ask, this call will get a lot longer than I have time for right now.’

‘You’re no fun,’ Luisa said, and Rose could perfectly envision the pout shaping the brunettes plumb, pink lips.

‘I know. I am sorry,’ Rose said, smiling ruefully.

‘But just because you can’t do this _now_ , doesn’t mean you can’t do this tonight, right?’ Luisa asked, a hopeful note sounding through in her voice.

‘Oh, I can definitely do this tonight,’ Rose smiled. ‘I might even skype you so I can see _exactly_ what you are wearing.’

‘I would like that very much,’ Luisa said.

‘Me too. I’ll call you tonight. Good luck with your paperwork,’ Rose smiled, knowing Luisa’s schedule well enough by now to know Monday afternoons were spent doing paperwork. And she knew Luisa well enough to know the brunette hated paperwork.

‘Ugh, don’t remind me. I hate paperwork.’

‘Is that why you called me? To procrastinate doing your paperwork?’ Rose asked, trying not to let her amusement sound through in her voice. She was suddenly glad this wasn’t a face-to-face conversation because she would never have been able to hide her smile, or to refuse Luisa’s earlier proposition.

‘Whaaat? No,’ Luisa said, not very convincingly. ‘I called because I was worried about you not texting me back. Concerned you might be working too hard again.’

‘Sure you were,’ Rose smiled. ‘But I really should get back to work. And I should let _you_ get back to work too,’ she added.

‘Fine,’ Luisa sighed. ‘I _will_ speak to you later.’

‘Yes, you will. Good luck with everything, and I really, really, _really_ like you,’ Rose said, using their by now familiar sign-off.

‘I really, really, really, _really_ like you too,’ Luisa said and Rose could almost see the grin on her face as she spoke those words.

‘Did you just one-up me?’

‘Oh, honey. I always top you,’ Luisa husked.

‘Luisa,’ Rose said, feeling her cheeks color.

‘Whaat?’ Luisa said, completely innocent now. ‘I was just saying.’

‘Sure you were. You are not talking me into this. I will call you tonight.’

‘Fine. Spoilsport,’ Luisa sighed.

‘Have fun at work,’ Rose smiled.

‘Yeah, you too,’ Luisa said, still sounding a little bummed out her plan hadn’t worked.

‘I really like you,’ Rose said.

‘I really like you, too,’ Luisa added before hanging up the phone.

Rose smiled as she turned her phone face down on the desk. Luisa really was the best girlfriend ever. And she was not going to let what had happened two weeks ago happen again. She _was_ going to call Luisa tonight, and she was definitely going to enjoy it.

‘So that’s the girlfriend, huh?’ a voice form the doorway said, startling Rose.

‘Adam, hey,’ Rose said, a little embarrassed to be caught by her colleague like this. She wasn’t certain if she had said anything to hint at what Luisa was discussing on the other side of the line, but she had no idea how long Adam had been standing there either so it was impossible to determine.

‘Don’t worry, I didn’t hear anything embarrassing,’ he said with a smile, walking into Rose’s temporary office and sitting down across from her, putting the stack of files he had been carrying on top of Rose’s desk.

Rose momentarily had a not-so-pleasant flashback to every time Leon walked into her office and left her with a bunch of files. But Adam and Leon couldn’t be more different.

Adam _had_ asked Rose out two weeks ago, but unlike Leon, Adam had backed off when she told him she had a girlfriend back home. He was just a normal colleague, even if there was the slight awkwardness of the rejection still between them.

‘How did you know it was my girlfriend?’ Rose asked.

‘You were blushing and smiling,’ Adam smiled, flipping open a file in his lap.

That only made Rose blush harder, and also doubt Adam’s honesty when it came to him not overhearing anything interesting.

‘Must be hard for the two of you to be apart so much so early in your relationship,’ Adam said, looking up from his file.

Now Rose was really surprised. Adam was nice enough, but they hadn’t really talked. Let alone talked about Luisa. So how had he known?

‘It was the sign-off. “I really like you”, not “I love you”,’ he said as he saw the surprised confusion on Rose’s face.

Adam was observant, Rose had to give him that.

‘It’s not fun,’ she said. ‘I miss her a lot while I am here. But we’re managing and it isn’t for long.’

Adam nodded. ‘Just a couple more weeks. If we can fix this mistake, that is,’ he sighed.

‘Adam,’ Rose started, not certain why Adam was here. ‘Not to be rude or anything. But don’t you have your own office?’

‘Oh! Right, sorry. Got distract by your phone call. Elena paired us up. I am to help you with the things you missed this weekend,’ he said, handing Rose one of the files from his stack.

‘Oh, okay,’ Rose said. ‘She did call you in then?’

‘Yeah,’ Adam smiled. ‘I am your replacement after all. So when the real deal wasn’t available to her, she called me.’

Right, Rose thought. Adam had been the new hire to fill the spot she’d left after taking the job in Miami.

‘She didn’t even try to reach me,’ Rose sighed, she was still pissed about that.

‘Maybe she just wanted to give you the weekend off to see your girlfriend.’

Rose held back a scoff. If it was up to Elena she would permanently keep her and Luisa apart and marry her off to some rich dude she thought appropriate. ‘Yeah, that must be it,’ Rose lied. She wasn’t really interested in discussing the ins and outs of her relationship with Elena with Adam.

‘So let’s just get to work,’ Adam said, pulling a pen out of his breast pocket and opening up another file.

‘Yeah, let’s,’ Rose said. Adam already having done quite a successful job of getting her mind out of the gutter. Especially because he seemed to be able to read her mind.

* * *

The strap of Rose’s bag dug into her shoulder as she waited for the elevator to reach her floor. Another perk of her temporary home was that she no longer had to walk up three flights of stairs after a long day.

As a result of the twist in the case and Elena refusing to contact her earlier, she had had to work overtime, but not nearly as much as she had done when Leon was trying to bury her in an avalanche of terrible cases. She also had Adam to help her out, which really made it a lot easier. He was a surprisingly good second and a half chair on this case. And had no trouble letting Rose steal his spotlight in court. He was actually a really nice guy. Which surprised her a little, because Elena had hired him and Elena only dealt with the sharkiest of lawyers.

The elevator halted and Rose walked out while checking her phone, seeing that she had two unread texts from Luisa. One dated two hours ago, and one just 30 minutes old.

Luisa <3<3<3 @ 5:11PM  
Are you home yet? In case you are, do NOT get started without me.

Luisa <3<3<3 @ 7:26 PM  
Call me when you get home. Don’t work too hard! I really like you. <3

Rose smiled and pressed the call button, listening to the dial tone for a couple of seconds before Luisa picked up.

‘Hey baby,’ Luisa greeted, her voice like silk and Rose could feel herself getting aroused already. Luisa had obviously been waiting for her to call.

‘Hey,’ Rose answered, kicking off her heels and collapsing on the couch.

‘Did you just get home?’ Luisa asked.

‘Yeah, had to work a little overtime. But I am free for the rest of the night,’ Rose added with a smile.

‘How fortunate, so am I. Have you eaten?’ They both knew exactly where this conversation was going, but that was not going to stop Luisa from making sure Rose was not going to collapse in the courtroom again.

‘Yes, I had sushi at the office.’

‘God, that is such a lawyer thing to do,’ Luisa said, momentarily getting distracted.

Rose laughed, but instead of responding to it she walked towards her bedroom, picking her laptop up on the way.

‘I am walking into my bedroom, now,’ Rose purred into the phone.

‘What could you possibly want in there?’ Luisa said, innocently.

‘Just trying to get comfortable after a long day at work and catch up with my amazing girlfriend.’

‘That’s all?’

‘Mmh, maybe. Depends on what my amazing girlfriend has to offer.’

‘Why don’t you call her and find out?’ Luisa teased.

‘Oh, I am planning to,’ Rose grinned, opening up her laptop.

‘I missed you today. My mind kept wandering back to yesterday morning. And most of Saturday. And Friday night…’

‘Was your paperwork really that boring?’ Rose asked with a smile. Clamping her phone down between her ear and her shoulder as she logged onto skype.

‘No, you’re just that hot,’ Luisa husked, her voice sending shivers down Rose’s spine. ‘I want to see you,’ she breathed.

‘Almost there,’ Rose said as she clicked Luisa’s contact information. Within 20 seconds the call was answered and she was looking at Luisa’s smiling face.

‘I’m gonna hang up now,’ Rose said as her voice echoed back through her laptop.

‘Hey,’ Luisa said, smiling widely as they both put their phones down.

‘Hey yourself,’ Luisa grinned.

‘I already miss you. That’s bad, isn’t it?’ Rose smiled.

‘No, I feel the same.’

‘Just two more weeks.’

‘Two more weeks,’ Luisa echoed.

‘I like that blouse,’ Rose smirked. ‘Is it new?’

‘It is, actually. My other blue one seems to have lost a couple of buttons.’

‘Did it? That seems unfortunate,’ Rose grinned, knowing perfectly well how Luisa other blouse had lost its buttons.

‘Mmh, this one is nice too,’ Luisa said, starting to play with the top button.

‘It is,’ Rose purred. Silently cursing the grainy quality of Luisa’s webcam. This really was much more fun in person. But as she couldn’t have that for the next five days, this would have to do.

‘Want me to take it off?’ Luisa asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked into the camera.

‘Yes, very much,’ Rose said, shifting a little on top of her sheets. ‘So is the new blouse what you meant when you said you dressed up for me?’

Luisa shook her head as she very slowly undid the buttons keeping her blouse closed. ‘No, I went shopping before you got home last Friday and bought more than just a blouse. Especially for this purpose.’

Rose swallowed, feeling arousal settle between her legs as more and more of Luisa’s body revealed itself in front of her.

She bit her lip as Luisa finished unbuttoning the silky blue blouse, pushing it off her shoulders to reveal the material of her bra.

It was indeed a bra Rose had never seen before, because she surely would have remembered. The material was so sheer it was almost entirely see-through, cupping Luisa’s breast perfectly. Her dark brown nipples clearly standing out against the fabric.

Rose wished she could reach through the screen and replace the garment with her hands, but as they were four hours apart. She could only watch as Luisa’s hands did what her own itched to do.

No words were needed as Rose watched Luisa trail her hands over her chest until they ultimately disappeared behind her back to unhook the bra.

Rose subconsciously held her breath as the bra finally fell away to reveal Luisa’s glorious breasts.

The first time they had attempted this Rose felt a little awkward. It was strange to strip down in front of a monitor and pretend her own hands were Luisa’s. But the awkwardness had very soon been replaced by a desperate need. So if she couldn’t actually touch Luisa, seeing her touch herself was a great second option.

Rose released a low whine from the back of her throat as Luisa brushed her thumbs over her already stiff nipples.

‘You know,’ Luisa started, her voice breathy. ‘This is not a one-way call. And I would like to see you too.’

Rose nodded slowly, still focused on Luisa’s hands cupping and massaging her own breasts.

As Luisa continued, Rose slowly undid her own blouse, letting it fall down around her shoulders.

‘More,’ Luisa said, pushing the laptop off her lap and raising herself up on her knees so Rose could see more of her body.

Rose doing the same as she tossed her bra to the side. But as she watched Luisa, she still wished she was in bed with her instead of in front of a screen.

She wanted to reach out and touch. To feel Luisa’s warm skin underneath her hands, to feel every breath and shiver, to hear every little whimper and moan. To _make_ Luisa whimper and moan.

And yet there was something incredibly arousing to see Luisa do it to herself. To watch those skilled hands trail across her body and see Luisa’s reaction to it. Because Rose might know Luisa’s body fairly well by now, Luisa knew her own body even better. And with the added pleasure of having Rose mirror her actions on the other side of the screen, it wasn’t long before the both of them were moaning and panting, rolling their hips and riding their fingers.

‘God, I wish you were here right now,’ Luisa moaned as she tipped her head back. ‘I want you inside of me.’

‘Fuck,’ Rose moaned, pressing her own fingers a little deeper into herself. Agreeing completely with Luisa. It was just so much better to have the Luisa’s hands on her than her own.

‘I want you to come for me,’ Luisa said, lifting her eyes up and looking straight at Rose through the camera, not stopping her own rapid pace, her body arching into her own touch.

Rose nodded, biting her lip as she circled her clit a little rougher. Her movements getting jerkier as she got closer and closer to orgasm.

Luisa was doing the same, her hips rolling faster. And even through the poor quality of the camera, Rose could see Luisa’s chest was flushed.

‘Luisa, fuck,’ Rose moaned, her muscles tensing up as her orgasm struck suddenly. Her back arching and her body jerking.

Rose’s eyes were closed but she could hear Luisa cry out in pleasure a little after her.

‘You know,’ Rose panted, still trying to gather her thoughts after her orgasm. ‘This is actually the worst part.’

‘What do you mean?’ Luisa asked, equally breathless, moving into a more comfortable position. Angling her laptop so just her face and the tops of her breasts were visible.

‘Being unable to cuddle up next to you afterwards,’ Rose said, leaning back against her pillows.

‘Yeah, this is kind of lonely,’ Luisa said, smiling sadly.

‘Just a couple more days until I will be back in bed with you,’ Rose said, replicating Luisa’s rueful smile.

‘In the meantime I will just have to cuddle up with Buddy,’ Luisa grinned.

Rose grimaced. ‘I am not sure either one of you would enjoy that.’

‘I don’t think so either. I would probably kill him.’

‘And he is kind of cold and clammy.’

‘Definitely that.’ Luisa said, she shifted a little on top of her sheets, pulling the blanket over herself.

‘Cold?’ Rose asked, feeling the chill on her own skin.

‘Yeah, rapidly cooling body and no one to cuddle with.’

Rose nodded, understanding that sentiment perfectly well.

‘So how’s Buddy doing?’ she said, not wanting to end this call yet. If they couldn’t cuddle, they could at least talk for a little while.

‘I have moved him up to my apartment. And I am debating getting him a friend.’

Rose laughed. ‘Of course you have. Maybe get him a bigger bowl first though.’

‘Yeah, that was what I was thinking. For him and Thorn.’

‘Thorn?’ Rose said, unable to keep herself from laughing.

‘Rosebud and Thorn. Companions for life,’ Luisa smiled.

‘Please don’t get me another fish,’ Rose pleaded. ‘And please don’t name it Thorn.’

‘You’ll just have to come home Friday and see,’ Luisa grinned.

‘Lu,’ Rose warned.

‘Fine, I’ll take you cuddling up to me Friday. And to think you were making fun of me Saturday morning for wanting to maximize our cuddling time.’

‘I know, I am a fool,’ Rose smiled.

‘You are. I miss you,’ Luisa said smiling.

‘I miss you too,’ Rose smiled. ‘So how was the paperwork?’

‘Don’t remind me or I _will_ get you that fish,’ Luisa warned.

‘You really don’t like paperwork, do you?’

‘I hate it. So let’s stop talking about it. How was your day? Came up with anything new?’

‘No, Adam and I went over dozens of files and there is nothing we haven’t considered before.’

‘Adam?’

‘He’s my replacement here at the firm.’

‘Is he the one that hit on you?’

‘Yes,’ Rose said, watching Luisa with interest. Her girlfriend did not seem to take the news all that calmly. ‘He was respectful about it. And he knows about you and backed off. So no need to get jealous,’ Rose grinned.

‘What? Jealous? I am not jealous,’ Luisa said, looking suspiciously jealous.

‘Good. Because he’s got nothing on you. I really, really, really like you, remember?’

‘I really, really, really like you too,’ Luisa said. ‘I guess I am just envious of the fact that he gets to hang out with you during the week and I don’t.’

‘It is not hanging out, Lu. We’re working together. Because somehow Elena did call him into work this weekend.’

‘Are you really upset she didn’t call you into work? You would have had to leave early.’

‘I know. It is more the reason why. And the fact that she blamed me for it.’

‘Aren’t I the reason she didn’t call you?’ Luisa asked.

‘No, I am the reason she didn’t call me. She never liked me.’

‘She doesn’t like me either,’ Luisa pouted.

‘She doesn’t like you because you like me. It has nothing to do with you personally. And I am glad I got to spent the weekend with you instead of working. And I will gladly do it again with you this weekend.’

‘Good, I mean, technology has gone a long way. But I prefer you in bed with me.’

‘Me too. But I do still enjoy listening to you. And I am glad I can see you. Even if it is slightly pixelated.’

‘This is not nearly as good as the real thing. I can barely see your freckles. And I like tracing them…’

Luisa’s ode to Rose’s freckles was interrupted by Rose’s phone ringing.

‘Sorry, one moment,’ Rose apologized.

‘Work?’ Luisa said over the screen.

Rose nodded. ‘It’s Adam.’

Rose wasn’t certain, but she thought Luisa might have sighed and rolled her eyes at that news.

‘Evans,’ Rose said as she answered the phone.

‘Hey, it’s Adam. I think I might have got something. Can you come to the office?’

‘Now?’ Rose asked. It was nearly 10 PM. ‘I thought you left already.’

‘I did. But I went back to look for a file and I might have found a hole in the prosecution’s story.’

‘Can we discuss it over the phone? I don’t really feel like coming into the office right now,’ Rose said, she was still naked and would definitely need a shower before coming over to the office. And she didn’t really want to face Adam after her time spent with Luisa. Somehow she was certain he would know exactly what had transpired in her bedroom and she was not ready to discuss _that_ with him.

‘Yeah, of course. It’s late. I understand.’

‘I just have to do something first. I’ll call you back in five, alright?’

‘The girlfriend?’

‘Yeah,’ Rose said, feeling her cheeks color. ‘I have her on the other line.’ In reality, she was looking right at a still naked Luisa over her computer screen.

Luisa did not seem very thrilled about the fact she was just going to be blown off for a work date.

‘Alright, say hi for me. Talk soon,’ Adam said for hanging up.

‘So you’re going back to work?’ Luisa said, picking a shirt from the side of her bed and putting it on.

‘Yes, I am very sorry.’

‘It’s alright. I know you, if you blew him off you would just get fidgety. Go work,’ and then with a smile she added their usual sign off. ‘I really like you.’

Rose smiled, Luisa knew her so well. ‘I really like you too. We will talk tomorrow, okay?’

‘Yes, go work!’ Luisa encouraged. ‘I’ll call tomorrow around lunch. To make sure you’re eating. And not just fancy lawyer sushi. Which it really insensitive to Buddy, by the way.’

Rose was about to respond to that when she suddenly recognized the shirt Luisa was wearing.

‘I do not remember leaving that one at your place,’ Rose said, raising on eyebrow.

‘Really? I am sure you did…’ Luisa said, hiding her face inside the collar of the shirt.

‘Did you raid my closet while you were over to water my plant?’

‘What? No…’ Luisa said, not very convincingly. ‘It smells like you, okay?’

Rose smiled. It was really very adorable.

‘Enjoy the shirt, I am going back to work.’

‘I will. Don’t make it too late, okay?’

‘I won’t. Adam said hi btw.’

‘Hi back, I guess. Tell him not to make you work too hard. You are technically still recovering from a brain injury.’

‘It was a mild concussion.’

‘Just promise me you won’t work too hard, okay?’

‘I promise. Talk to you tomorrow.’

‘Talk to you tomorrow.’

With that Rose ended the skype call. Throwing on some comfortable clothes and gathering her work files onto her bed before calling Adam back.

‘Okay, tell me what you got,’ she said, settling in for what was definitely going to be a late night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With every update I am getting closer to the end. If everything goes as planned, it will have 19 chapters plus an epilogue. So were almost there.  
> See you Sunday! (hopefully, but who knows...)
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you liked it please consider leaving a comment!


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, who's ready for some family drama? I know I am.
> 
> Anyway, sorry I am late but we're nearing the end of this fic and for some reason I always get reluctant to write at that point. (Probably just don't want it to end) But this isn't the end yet, so enjoy!

Rose’s smile widened as she spotted a familiar face between all the ones exiting the terminal.

Luisa smiled back just as widely as their eyes found each other in the crowd.

‘Hey you!’ Luisa greeted, dropping her suitcase on the floor by their feet as she stood up on her toes to kiss Rose. ‘Your court heels make you too damn tall,’ Luisa whined as she pulled back, exaggeratedly massaging her neck as if craning it to kiss Rose had hurt it.

 Rose smiled, looking down at her outfit. She was still in her work clothes, a black skirt and a white blouse. And of course a pair of towering stiletto heels. She hadn’t had time to change out of them before coming to pick Luisa up from the airport.

‘I would gladly take them off,’ Rose said, feeling the strain on her feet from wearing them all day. ‘But I would rather not walk through an airport barefoot.’

‘That would probably be wise,’ Luisa smiled. ‘But in the meantime you can bend down to kiss me instead.’

‘My pleasure,’ Rose grinned, tipping Luisa’s chin up and brushing their lips together in another soft kiss.

‘I missed you,’ Rose whispered against Luisa’s lips as she pulled away a couple of inches.

‘I missed you, too,’ Luisa smiled, ‘Which is why I am here after all.’

‘And I am very glad that you could find time in your busy weekend plans to come see me all the way here in Tampa,’ Rose smiled, grabbing the handle of Luisa’s suitcase. Starting towards the exit.

‘Well, you _are_ all my plans for the weekend,’ Luisa called after her.

‘Aren’t you coming?’ Rose asked as Luisa had yet to move an inch.

‘Just admiring your ass in that skirt and with those heels. Sort of jealous at that ADA that gets to look at you all day.’

‘Well, don’t be. ADA Holt is 60-years-old and gay as the Fourth of July,’ Rose grinned.

‘Well, so are we,’ Luisa smiled, jogging a couple of steps to catch up with Rose, tangling their hands together.

‘He’s a man,’ Rose smiled.

‘Then he will appreciate the look none the less,’ Luisa smiled, swinging their linked hands between them as they excited the airport.

‘I really missed you,’ Rose smiled. ‘And I really like you. A lot.’

‘I really like you a lot, too,’ Luisa smiled. ‘So how was your week?’

It wasn’t like they hadn’t already discussed that at length over the phone. It was after all why Luisa was in Tampa instead of Rose in Miami for the weekend.

‘Busy, but good. Adam’s strategy worked. We have another shot at winning this if we play it right and if the jury’s sufficiently impressed by our story. Which is always a bit of a gamble. But we’re working on it.’

‘Not too hard, I hope,’ Luisa said, shooting Rose a concerned glare.

‘I have been sensible. Sleeping a minimum of six hours and eating three meals a day,’ Rose smiled.

‘And how’s your head? Any headaches, dizziness?’

‘No, _doctor_ ,’ Rose teased. ‘I am fine, really. No lingering effects from the concussion. I would have told you if there had been any.’

‘Okay,’ Luisa smiled softly, squeezing Rose’s hand. ‘I can’t wait to have you back home again so I will just know you are doing alright instead of relying on your word.’

‘You think I would lie to you?’ Rose said, feigning offense.

‘You _are_ a pretty good lawyer. So I have no doubt you are capable of it,’ Luisa teased.

‘Well, I would never lie to you,’ Rose said firmly. She was _not ever_ going to that again after her little white lies to Luisa about how she was doing had landed her in the hospital.

‘You better not,’ Luisa said seriously, but a smile was still crinkling the corners of her eyes so Rose wasn’t too worried.

‘I won’t. Promise,’ Rose said, holding up her hand like she was being sworn in in court.

‘I believe you,’ Luisa laughed, resting her head against Rose’s shoulder, holding on to her arm. ‘So, did you break your own rule and take a cab to pick me up?’

‘No, I did not.’ Rose couldn’t hide her grin when Luisa looked at in confusion.

‘You have a car here?’ Luisa asked, one eyebrow raised in question.

‘No,’ Rose said. ‘But I do have a friend with a car here.’

‘Rose!’ Adam called, pushing himself away from the exterior of his car. ‘And you must be Luisa. Nice to meet you!’ he said, enthusiastically extending his hand to Luisa, who shook it slowly, looking over at Rose.

‘Oh, right,’ Rose smiled. ‘Luisa, Adam. Adam, Luisa.’

‘Oh, so you’re Adam,’ Luisa smiled, the name sparking some recognition.

‘The one and only. Rose never mentioned me?’ he said, flashing Rose a hurt puppy-look.

‘She did,’ Luisa smiled. ‘I am just terrible with names. But yours has definitely popped up a couple of times. I heard you saved the case.’

‘Not at all. That decision is still up to the jury.’

‘He’s being modest. The jury would have had a really easy time deciding. We would have been buried under an avalanche of evidence if it hadn’t been for him,’ Rose said, clasping Adam on the shoulder.

‘Anyway,’ Adam said, grinning widely. ‘She told me _a lot_ about you. She is actually never _not_ talking about you,’ Adam teased.

‘Will you shut up, please?’ Rose said, smacking Adam in the shoulder. ‘Or I will take back what I said about you.’

‘Alright, let’s just pretend I never said that then,’ Adam grinned.

‘Also, you might want to get behind the wheel. I sort of want to go home and change out of these shoes,’ Rose complained, opening the door to the backseat.

‘Well, you look great in them,’ both Luisa and Adam said simultaneously, making Rose laugh.

‘Thank you both,’ Rose grinned. ‘But I am being serious. Let’s go.’

Adam laughed and got in the driver’s seat, Luisa sliding down the backseat as Rose got in next to her. As soon as her seatbelt clicked shut, Luisa immediately took Rose’s hand, rubbing soft circles over Rose’s knuckles with her thumb.

‘Thank you for coming here. I know that was not the deal,’ Rose whispered to Luisa as Adam started the car.

‘Hey, I know you are busy with work and that you couldn’t come back to Miami this weekend. So I would rather have a couple of days with you with some interruptions than no time with you at all,’ Luisa said, resting her head on Rose’s shoulder. ‘Besides. You’ll be back home for good in a week, so it is only fair I come visit you once.’

‘I’m still grateful,’ Rose smiled, pecking Luisa on the cheek, mindful of Adam in the driver’s seat.

‘Well, so am I,’ Luisa smiled, planting her own, lingering kiss on Rose’s cheek, catching just a bit of the corner of Rose’s mouth.

‘Wait, but if you’re here, who’s taking care of Buddy?’ Rose realized suddenly, she was not used to having a pet she needed to take care off.

‘The most trustworthy person I know,’ Luisa grinned.

‘Please tell me you did not give Sarah a key to my apartment,’ Rose sighed. She could perfectly imagine Sarah making herself at home in her house, riffling through her closets and drawers.

‘Of course not, I gave her a key to mine. Buddy was staying at my place remember? That didn’t stop Sarah from trying to get a key to your apartment. But I resisted,’ Luisa added with a grin.

‘Thank you. I do not want her going through my photo album.’

‘You have a photo album?’ Luisa asked, her eyes shining. ‘With baby pictures of you?’

‘Yes,’ Rose groaned.

‘Oh, I know what I am doing when I get home,’ Luisa grinned.

‘I regret this very much now,’ Rose sighed, burying her face in the crook of Luisa’s neck.

‘I bet you were an adorable baby,’ Luisa soothed, stroking Rose’s hair.

‘You’d lose,’ Rose said. Baby pictures were always embarrassing, hers were no exception.

‘I’m still going to look for them,’ Luisa smiled.

‘I know you are. Just have mercy and do not ridicule my hair from ages two to eleven.’

‘Are you telling me you’re not a natural redhead?’ Luisa grinned, knowing that Rose was, in fact, a real ginger.

‘No, I am telling you my hair was just a mess of curls when I was young. Like a real mess.’

‘Aww,’ Luisa cooed. ‘That sounds adorable.’

‘It’s not. And I am burning those pictures when I get home,’ Rose sighed.

‘Don’t you dare!’ Luisa warned, smacking Rose in the arm softly.

‘I won’t if you won’t go looking for them. Maybe I’ll show them to you one day. When I am there to censure the bad ones.’

‘Fine, I won’t go looking for them,’ Luisa sighed reluctantly.

‘Thank you. I promise I’ll show them to you some day,’ Rose said, kissing Luisa softly.

‘You better,’ Luisa muttered, but a smile was still stretched across her face, so Luisa knew she wasn’t actually disappointed.

‘Ladies, we’re here,’ Adam said as he pulled the car into an empty parking space in front of Rose’s building.

‘Thanks, Adam,’ Rose said as she pushed open the door, helping Luisa outside.

‘No problem. When you have a car you occasionally have to pick people up from the airport. Just see us even now for all the Chinese food you’ve bought me during this trial.

‘Sure, we’re even,’ Rose laughed, getting Luisa’s suitcase for her before turning back to Adam. ‘See you Monday!’

‘I’ll email you those files, I don’t expect you to go over them. But just so you have them.’

‘Yes, that would be great, thank you,’ Rose smiled. ‘Bye Adam.’

‘Bye Rose. It was nice to meet you Luisa,’ Adam said.

‘It was nice to meet you too, Adam,’ Luisa smiled, offering him a wave.

Adam waved back and drove up.

‘Well, he really is nice,’ Luisa said, wrapping her arm around Rose’s waist.

‘Told you,’ Rose said, pressing a kiss to Luisa’s temple as she unlocked the building’s front door. ‘So you have nothing to worry about and can now stop being jealous of poor Adam.’

‘What? I am not _jealous_ of Adam. Don’t be ridiculous,’ Luisa scoffed, trying and failing to hide her real feelings from Rose.

‘It’s okay,’ Rose smiled, tickling Luisa’s side. ‘But you have nothing to worry about. Adam’s got nothing on you. And he didn’t get me a goldfish, so you know it could never be serious be the two of us,’ Rose teased.

‘You’re not nearly as funny as you think you are,’ Luisa grumbled, barely hiding her smile.

‘Come on, let’s go upstairs so I can properly welcome you to Tampa and show you why you’re the only one for me.’

‘Mmmh, sounds great. Totally worth the plane ride here,’ Luisa smiled, pushing Rose against the side panel of the elevator as the rode upwards. Properly kissing her no they were no longer being observed.

‘Lu,’ Rose said softly, motioning to the elevator doors that had slid open behind them. ‘Let’s continue this inside.’

‘So boring,’ Luisa whined, pressing their lips together again.

Rose smiled into the kiss, pulling Luisa with her towards her front door.

‘I missed you, too,’ she grinned, managing to pull away from the kiss long enough to unlock her door, Luisa pressing teasing kisses to the back of her neck.

‘So let me show you around,’ Rose said, kicking the door closed behind her.

‘Let’s start with the bedroom,’ Luisa husked.

* * *

Rose smiled happily into her pillow as Luisa pressed a flurry of soft kisses up her spine. ‘I really, really like you,’ Rose husked.

‘I really, really like you, too,’ Luisa smiled, laying down next to Rose, their faces only inches apart.

‘Good,’ Rose smiled lazily. After working overtime all week it was nice to just spent an evening in bed with her girlfriend.

Of course, right at that moment her phone rang.

‘Well, it could have been worse,’ Luisa sighed as Rose picked up her phone. ‘I could still have my head between your legs.’

Rose’s laughed right up until the moment she saw the name on her screen.

‘Is it your mother?’ Luisa asked as she saw Rose’s facial expression.

‘No, it’s my dad,’ Rose frowned, pressing the answer call button.

‘Your dad?’ Luisa frowned, pulling back a little, confusion evident on her face.

Rose nodded, urging Luisa to be quiet. ‘Hi, dad,’ Rose greeted.

‘Rosie, hey,’ her father greeted.

‘Is everything okay?’ Rose asked, she had no idea why else her father would be calling her.

‘Yes, everything is fine. I just wanted to ask you over for dinner tomorrow. You have been in Tampa for nearly a month and I still haven’t seen you.’

Rose held back a sigh. There was a reason for that. Wherever her dad went, Elena went. And she did not want to spent any more time with her stepmother than she strictly had to.

‘I know, I’m sorry. I’ve just mostly been working. And in the weekends I went back to Miami.’

‘Yes, Elena told me. To your girlfriend, I know.’

Rose raised an eyebrow. ‘I can’t believe Elena called her my girlfriend.’

‘She didn’t. But I know you, Rosie. You are not flying back to Miami every weekend to see your neighbor.’

Rose scoffed. That she could belief.

‘So I wanted to invite you and your girlfriend for dinner tomorrow.’

‘Dad…’ Rose said, trying to be as gentle as possible. She should probably visit her father before returning to Miami. But she couldn’t face Elena outside of work. And she really didn’t want to expose Luisa to another thirty minutes with Elena. ‘You know Elena and I don’t get along. I don’t want to drag Luisa into it.’

‘Please come. I want to meet your girlfriend. Derek will be there too.’

‘Derek is coming to a family dinner?’ Rose asked, raising an eyebrow.

Luisa still looked confused. The longer Rose talked, the more confused she seemed to become.

‘Yes,’ her father said. ‘Please tell me you’ll be there.’

‘I don’t know, dad,’ Rose sighed, running a hand through her hair. ‘I’ll ask Luisa and call you back, okay?’

‘Okay, I love you, honey.’

‘I love you, too,’ Rose said before hanging up with a sigh.

‘How come I have always sort of assumed your father was dead?’ Luisa asked as Rose put the phone down.

‘You thought my father was dead?’ Rose laughed.

‘You never talk about him. Just about Elena. And on occasion your brother. I just thought he had died.’

‘Well, we’re not really close.’

‘Yeah, I figured,’ Luisa scoffed. ‘But you haven’t even mentioned him once since we started dating.’

‘There is not much to tell. He picked Elena over me. He knew Elena never liked me, didn’t accept me and he still married her.’

‘I know how that feels,’ Luisa said, stroking soothingly up and down Rose’s arm. ‘But I still talk to my dad. Well, not currently. But you know that.’

‘We talk. Occasionally,’ Rose said. ‘There’s just not a lot to talk about.’

‘He’s obviously trying to make amends, Rose. He wants to see you.’

‘I have been here three weeks. He could have called at any time to meet up for lunch or whatever. But the weekend you are here, he suddenly wants to do a family dinner. Which is a foreign concept in my house. It’s weird.’

‘Your brother is coming,’ Luisa said, kissing Rose’s shoulder softly.

‘Are you saying you want to _go_?’ Rose asked, pulling back a bit from Luisa so she could look at her.

Luisa shrugged. ‘I sort of want to meet your family.’

‘Yeah, because the small sample you got was so very delightful,’ Rose scoffed.

‘No, you and _my_ family had such a great first introduction,’ Luisa deadpanned. ‘I know you and Elena don’t get along. But I sort of want to meet your father and I want to thank your brother for out fantastic one-week anniversary.

‘That was a nice one,’ Rose smiled as she remembered dancing with Luisa on the rooftop. ‘And Derek has been asking to meet you ever since. But I am sure we can do that some other time. Without my parents there.’

‘Rose,’ Luisa said, her dark eyes serious. ‘I am here now. And I know you, and after this week is over, you are not going to go back to Tampa for a very long time and you are definitely not going to take me along with you. So why not bite the bullet and introduce me to your family now? You’ve met mine.’

Rose groaned. ‘Because I sort of wanted to keep them out of this,’ Rose said, she knew she was being whiny. But she didn’t really want to spent some of her very limited time with Luisa with her parents instead. But she was an adult, and she could do a two-hour dinner with her family. Especially if Luisa wanted to. ‘Fine, but I won’t enjoy it.’

‘I won’t expect you to,’ Luisa smiled, leaning in to kiss Rose. ‘So go call your dad back and tell him we’re coming to dinner tomorrow.’

‘After meeting Elena, I really don’t understand why you want to meet my father,’ Rose sighed, picking up her phone.

‘I thought the man was dead, Rose. You made me think he was dead.’

‘I did no such thing. I just didn’t bring him up. And do you really think I would still be meeting up with Elena if it wasn’t for my dad?’

‘No, probably not. But we _are_ going to have dinner with your parents.’

‘Fine, I’ll call him. But you better make it worth my while,’ Rose grinned, pulling Luisa back on top of her. She could call her father afterwards.

‘Oh, I will,’ Luisa grinned back charmingly, brushing her lips teasingly against Rose’s. ‘That’s what I am here for, after all.’

* * *

‘I can’t believe you are so reluctant for me to meet your family,’ Luisa said, tangling their hands together as they exited the cab. Rose nearly having asked the cab to turn around every five minutes. But here they were, on the curb in front of her parent’s house.

‘Well, you have already met Elena, Derek is like every 23-year-old boy. And my father’s most interesting quality by far is that you thought he was dead. But let’s get this over with. The sooner we eat; the sooner we can get home so you can make it up to me.’

‘You know I am supposed to be the one scared of meeting your parents, right? Not you.’

‘But I know them. So I am just behaving accordingly,’ Rose deadpanned.

‘You’re so dramatic. But I’ll make it up to you,’ Luisa laughed.

‘Promise not to judge me because of my parents?’ Rose asked.

‘Of course not! You didn’t judge me for mine,’ Luisa smiled, kissing Rose on the cheek. ‘Now ring the doorbell, please. We have been standing on this porch for two minutes now and I am suspecting someone is about to call neighborhood watch.’

Rose laughed. ‘Fine, let’s do this.’

Luisa squeezed Rose’s hand as they waited for the door to open.

‘Rosie!’ a man with graying hair smiled widely as he opened to door.

‘Hi dad,’ Rose smiled, letting go of Luisa’s hand in order to hug her father. She could hear Luisa suppress a giggle at the nickname.

‘How long has it been since I last saw you?’ he asked as he pulled away from the hug.

‘When I left for Miami,’ Rose said with a small smile. She did feel a little guilty about not calling her father earlier.

‘Right, right,’ her father nodded. ‘You look beautiful, as always. So much like your mother.’

‘Thanks dad,’ Rose said, her voice a little softer before lifting up her chin. ‘Dad, this is my girlfriend, Luisa. Luisa, my father.’

‘Hello sir, nice to meet you,’ Luisa said, extending her hand.

‘Hello Luisa, and please call me James.’

‘James,’ Luisa smiled as she took Rose’s hand again.

‘Come in, everyone else is already here.’

‘Everyone?’ Rose asked suspiciously but her father didn’t hear her.

‘Nice house,’ Luisa whispered to her as they made their way through the hallway towards the living room. ‘It seems I am getting to see your baby pictures after all.’ She motioned towards the couple of frames hanging on the walls. Displaying Rose throughout various stages of her life.

Rose groaned. ‘Is that why you wanted to come here? Because I would have rather just shown you the pictures.

‘Not at all,’ Luisa smiled, inspecting the pictures before continuing down the hallway.

Rose looked around as well. This house was her home; it had just never really felt like it. And as long as Elena lived there, it never would.

‘Adam?’ Rose asked, surprised to see the familiar face in her parents’ living room. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I invited him,’ Elena said, walking into the room from the adjoining kitchen carrying two glasses of wine.

The question at the forefront of Rose’s mind was “why” but Luisa warningly squeezed her hand so she stopped herself. ‘What a pleasant surprise,’ she said instead, hearing Luisa snicker softly beside her as her tone suggested otherwise.

‘Hi Adam,’ Luisa greeted.

‘Luisa,’ Adam nodded.

‘You two know each other?’ Elena asked, the only sign betraying her surprise the slightly raised eyebrow.

‘We met briefly yesterday,’ Luisa explained.

‘He picked us up from the airport,’ Rose added.

‘I did,’ Adam replied.

All five adults in the room were silent for a few seconds after, no one knowing what to say after that slightly awkward bit of conversation. Luckily the tension was broken when Derek sauntered into the room.

‘Rose!’ Derek smiled as he noticed his sister.

‘Derek, hey!’ Rose smiled back, thankful for the interruption. Even if she could have done without her parents (and for some inexplicable reason, Adam), she had really missed her little brother.

‘Luisa, this is my brother Derek. Derek, this is Luisa,’ Rose smiled, wrapping her arm around Luisa’s waist.

‘Nice to finally meet you!’ Derek said, shaking Luisa’s hand. ‘Rose told me so much about you. And as she doesn’t normally bring her girlfriend’s home, or herself for that matter, I didn’t think I would ever meet you.’

‘Well, thank you for helping Rose with the anniversary. It was really lovely,’ Luisa smiled.

‘No problem. It’s what I do.’

With Derek there the conversation seemed to go a little bit easier. And after a round of drinks, consisting of water for Rose and Luisa, Elena and her father went into the kitchen to check on their dinner.

‘Why would Adam be here?’ Luisa whispered to Rose, scooting a little closer to her on the couch.

‘I have no idea,’ Rose replied. ‘Maybe my mother is sleeping with him or something.’

Luisa laughed. ‘That would make this a very awkward family dinner.’

‘It already is, regardless of Elena’s possible affair,’ Rose sighed.

‘What are you two whispering about?’ Derek asked as he sat down across from them.

‘Do you know why Adam is here?’ Rose asked, Adam had gone outside to take a call, so it was just the three of them there.

‘No idea,’ Derek shrugged. ‘He was already here when I arrived. I am not sure even Adam knows why he is here.’

‘Why are _you_ here?’ Rose asked, raising an eyebrow.

‘I need money,’ Derek shrugged matter-of-factly. ‘Best way to get it is to do what dad asks. So when he called me over for a family dinner, it took me about two seconds to decide.’

Rose laughed. ‘Why do you need money? I thought your business was doing well?’

‘It is,’ Derek said defensively. ‘But it is also less than a year old so I have yet to break even. But that’s normal. I just also have bills to pay and no money to pay them with. But I know you know you’re not lacking money. So why are _you_ here?’

‘Luisa made me come. So thought dad was dead.’

‘What?’ Derek laughed. ‘She thought dad was dead? Why?’

‘She never mentioned him. I just assumed. She only talks about Elena,’ Luisa explained.

‘That hilarious,’ Derek laughed. ‘You never mentioned dad? Not even once?’

‘You too?’ Rose said, trying to look betrayed but failing.

‘Come on, let’s eat,’ Derek said. ‘Maybe we can find out why Adam is here. At the very least we can watch mom pretend you and Luisa aren’t dating.’

‘That is not a fun activity, Derek,’ Rose sighed. Elena didn’t mean anything to her, but it was never nice to be disrespected by someone so prominent in your life.

‘Right, sorry. You two are a cute couple, though.’ Derek said as he got up, Elena having called them to the dinner table.

‘Enjoying this dinner so far?’ Rose asked, squeezing Luisa’s hand as they too got up.

‘It is _entertaining_ ,’ Luisa said, trying to make it sound somewhat positive. ‘Your dad seems very alive.’

‘Well, he is,’ Rose laughed.

‘Derek doesn’t look at all like I expected him too,’ Luisa admitted.

‘What did you expect?’ Rose laughed.

‘Less hipster, more ginger.’

‘It’s the scarf right? I told him to get rid of that. We’re in Florida. There is no need for a scarf ever. But yeah, we’re halfsiblings, we don’t look a lot alike.’

‘You don’t look alike at all. I think there is a greater likeness between Derek and Rafael than between you and Derek.’

‘They both look like players,’ Rose laughed.

‘Yeah, they do,’ Luisa smiled. ‘But let’s eat. You can show we around the house after. Can’t wait to see your childhood bedroom.’ Luisa’s eyes were shining brightly as she said it, barely concealing her intentions.

‘We are not having sex in my parents’ house,’ Rose hissed through clenched teeth as she pulled a chair out for Luisa.

‘Shame,’ Luisa shrugged, her smile not diminishing. ‘It would piss Elena off.’

‘Probably. But I am still not giving in,’ Rose said as she sat down next to Luisa.

‘Adam, why don’t you sit over there, next to Rose,’ Elena said casually as she walked into the dining room, followed by Adam and her father.

Adam just nodded and sat down next to Rose, who immediately turned to Adam. ‘Why are you here?’ she asked quietly.

‘I have no idea,’ Adam said, looking lost. ‘Your mother invited me over for dinner. I thought it was a work thing. I had no idea it was a family dinner or I would have declined.’

That certainly sounded like something Elena would do, but Rose just didn’t know _why_ she would do it.

However, as the dinner progressed Rose slowly figured out what Elena was doing. Between the questions her father and Derek asked her and Luisa about life in Miami and their relationship, Elena was trying very hard to include Adam in the conversation. Mostly by bringing up his qualities as a lawyer and what a nice young man he was. And suddenly it clicked: Elena wasn’t interested in Adam for herself. She was interested in Adam for Rose.

Rose had seriously underestimated her mother. All of this, inviting her back to the firm, not calling her in last weekend, pairing her up with Adam; they were all desperate attempts to set her up with Adam. Rose wanted to laugh at the insanity of it all but it would be much more satisfying to just ignore Elena’s suddenly obvious attempts and just go home to Luisa at the end of the week and not ever speak to Elena again.

But Elena just continued, and by now everyone at the table had realized what was going on and it was getting awkward. So when Elena mentioned for the fourth time that night that Adam and Rose would make such a great couple Rose had had enough.

‘Will you please stop it?’ Rose bit out, glaring at Elena. ‘I am here with my girlfriend. She is sitting right next to me. This is her. You’ve met her before actually and I know you don’t care about that. But I do. The whole night, and probably even before that, you have been trying to set me up with Adam, who is a nice guy. But that is exactly the problem: he is a man. And I am gay. And I know you don’t like that. But I am. And this is just disrespectful to me and especially to Luisa. I really like her, and I am only saying that because Luisa won’t let me say that I love her just yet. But I do, very much. So stop. I’ll finish this trial here in Tampa but after that I am gone and I am not coming back. I am sorry, dad. I tried. But I can’t do this anymore. Let’s go,’ Rose said to Luisa as she got up.

For the first time in her life, Elena looked too stunned to say anything. Adam and her father just looked embarrassed and Derek was grinning like he had just won the lottery.

‘Come on,’ Rose said as she helped Luisa up. ‘You don’t deserve this.’

Luisa nodded, offering Rose a warm, supportive smile.

‘I’m proud of you,’ she whispered as they walked towards the front door.

They were almost outside when Rose’s phone rang, the same sound coming from inside the dining room as two other phones starting ringing simultaneously.

Rose checked the display and noticed it was the law firm calling, which explained why two other phones had started ringing. Confused, she answered the phone. ‘Evans,’ she said into the receiver. Wordlessly turning around and walking into the living room where Elena was already doing what the voice on the other end of the line had asked them to do: turn on the TV.

It didn’t take long for Elena to find one of the many channels proclaiming they had breaking news.

‘What’s going on?’ Luisa asked, a puzzled expression on her face.

Rose didn’t have to explain as the newscaster took over.

‘The new witness in the Ashcroft trial has been found dead in her apartment. There has been no police confirmation yet, but foul play is suspected.’

Rose turned her head to look at Luisa as she hung up her phone. Luisa looked just as stunned as she herself did and no words were needed between the two of them to confirm that this was not good news. Not good at all.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that isn't good. Did anyone else assume Rose's dad was dead? Because honestly I always kill him off. (Sorry, too soon) So I thought it would be fun to throw him in for an awkward family dinner!
> 
> If you liked it, please leave a comment! See you soon for the last two chapters! (I am trying to finish this fic before s3 starts, but we'll see if I make that)


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By popular demand: the second to last chapter of You've got Mail!
> 
> Enjoy! (It's a long one)

Rose walked the by now familiar way back home. She shouldn’t be here. She should have been home with Luisa by now. It was the Monday _after_ the weekend she was supposed to return home and yet the end of the trial was still nowhere in sight.

While the police worked on solving the murder of the DA’s star witness, the trial had been put on hold to allow the district attorney’s office time to regroup. Which meant Rose was stuck in the ever so sunny Tampa for the unforeseeable future. And to make matters worse, she hadn’t seen Luisa at all this weekend.

She had been working the whole time, so she didn’t want Luisa to pay for a plane ticket if they were not going to see each other for more than a couple of hours a day. So they had stuck with talking over the phone or skype, but it was not nearly as satisfying. She missed Luisa and she wished this trial would just end.

Elena had told them to make the most of the continuance granted by the judge, but Rose knew that if it turned out that their client had arranged to have the witness killed, no matter what strategy they came up with, they would lose.

But that didn’t seem to stop Elena. So once again she was working around the clock, exhausting all possible defense strategies in the hope something good might magically appear.

She and Adam had come up with a few Rose suspected _could_ work if only Warren hadn’t arranged to have that girl murdered. But Rose was pretty certain he had. Ashcroft was an idiot and by now she was _convinced_ he had killed those girls. And with every passing day of this hellish trial, she found it harder to live with herself.

Yes, this was her job and she had known what she was getting into from the beginning. Normally it didn’t bother her, but with every passing day it became so much cleared that their client had, in fact, killed all those girls and it was repulsive.

But there was nothing she could do about that now, so she and Adam just had to do what they were paid to do: find a viable defense strategy.

Rose had thought that working with Adam after their disastrous family dinner together would be awkward, but it wasn’t really.

Adam had apologized profusely, but Rose kept reassuring him that he had done nothing wrong and that it wasn’t his fault, it was Elena’s. But for some reason Elena had not apologized at all. So their already strained relationship had taken another hit.

After the breaking news that Saturday, Rose, Adam and Elena had all taken off to the office, Rose only stopping to drop Luisa off at her apartment.

She knew Luisa didn’t mind, but she still felt bad about coming home in the middle of the night and taking off early again the next morning, giving them only a couple of hours together that weekend. Which was one of the reasons Rose had decided not to ask Luisa to come over this weekend, it would just be more of the same and that would just be disappointing. However, that didn’t change the fact that she missed even those couple of hours she could spent in Luisa’s arms.

She retrieved her phone from her pocket, smiling as she saw that she had a missed call from Luisa. As she opened the building’s front door she hit call back, waiting for Luisa to pick up.

‘Rose?’ Luisa said into the receiver, she sounded sleepy. ‘Why are you calling? Is everything okay?’

‘Everything is fine,’ Rose asked, a little confused to why Luisa would ask her that. ‘Were you asleep?’

‘Well, yeah, it is one AM,’ Luisa yawned.

‘What?!’ Rose asked checking her watch, which did indeed confirm Luisa’s statement. ‘I am so sorry. I had no idea it was that late already.’

‘You work too hard,’ Luisa murmured groggily. ‘But I am awake now so you might as well tell me about your day.’

‘I should probably let you get back to sleep. We’ll talk tomorrow.’

‘You and I both know you will be back this late again tomorrow. So we might as well talk now while I’m awake. I missed you.’

‘I missed you, too,’ Rose smiled, not bothering to turn on the lights in her living room, just continuing straight to her bedroom. ‘I should have been home by now. With you.’

Luisa didn’t say anything for a moment. ‘Have you thought at all about what you are going to do once you’re back here?’ Luisa asked.

Rose bit her lip. She had been so busy with this trial that she had hardly spent a second thinking about what she was going to do when she got back to Miami. And it was sort of necessary to think about that.

Because as Sarah had told her, nothing at the firm had changed. So when she got back Leon would very likely try to drown her in cases again and there was really nothing Rose could do about that. And this time she was certain Leon wouldn’t stop until she quit her job, which was not an option. But neither was neglecting Luisa and herself because she was always working.

‘I take it that’s a ‘no’,’ Luisa said after Rose had remained silent for a full minute.

‘Yes,’ Rose sighed. ‘I have no idea what I am going to do once I get back.’

‘Do you have any idea when that will be?’ Luisa asked.

‘No, this trial isn’t one step closer to ending. But I am almost done,’ Rose sighed.

‘What happened?’

So Rose told her everything. From the horrible interviews with Warren to the late nights at the office with Adam.

‘I’m worried about you,’ Luisa said softly after Rose was done with her rant. ‘You’re working too hard. Again.’

‘I’m fine,’ Rose said. ‘I promise I’ll go home earlier tomorrow so we can talk at a more normal hour.’

‘This is about normal for you now,’ Luisa said.

‘I’m sorry about waking you just to complain.’

‘It’s okay. I missed you. Just take care of yourself. Because I really like you, and I do not want to visit you in the hospital ever again.’

‘I know. I will. I really like you, too. Goodnight, Luisa.’

‘Goodnight, Rose,’ Luisa said before hanging up.

Rose sighed and put her phone away. She could tell that Luisa was worried about her, and that she was definitely not happy with the situation. But neither was Rose. There was just not a lot she could do about it. She couldn’t just quit. Not again. And even if she did quit and returned to Miami, that wouldn’t solve the problems she had with Leon.

Rose groaned and closed her eyes. Why couldn’t things just be simple? Why was it that now she had found a woman she loved, really loved, more than anything in her life, they had so much trouble actually being together?

* * *

‘Here. Food,’ Adam said as he placed a container of Chinese take-out on her desk. ‘You need to eat something.’

Rose looked up from her file, pushing her glasses back up her nose. ‘That late already?’

‘Later, it’s way past dinnertime already,’ Adam said as he sat down across from Rose, opening up his own container so the delicious smell of Chinese food wafted through the air, suddenly making her realize how hungry she was. And that didn’t surprise her as she shot a glance at the clock on the wall.

‘Damnit,’ she cursed as she picked up her phone. She had promised Luisa that she’d be home by now so the least she could do was call her and explain.

She fidgeted with her necklace as she waited for the phone to be picked up.

‘Hey,’ Luisa greeted. ‘I was almost worried you’d still be at work by now.’

‘Hey,’ Rose said, planning on delaying the confession that she was in fact still at work by a couple of minutes by asking Luisa how she was first. ‘How as your day?’

But Luisa wasn’t having it. ‘You’re still at work, aren’t you?’

‘Yes,’ Rose sighed. ‘But I do have food!’

Luisa laughed, the sound sounding hollow over the phone, not at all like Luisa’s normal, melodious laugh. And Rose was once again reminded how much she missed being near Luisa. To be able to see her every evening. Even if it was just for a couple of minutes when they got their mail.

‘I’m glad you’re not starving at least,’ Luisa continued. ‘Just promise you’ll go home soon, okay?’

‘I’ll just finish this and then I’ll go home. I promise.’

‘Just tell me the end of the trial is in sight. I want you back home with me,’ Luisa said.

‘Not yet, but with every day we’re getting closer.’

‘That is generally how the passage of time works, genius,’ Luisa teased good-naturedly.

‘I know,’ Rose laughed. ‘But the DA’s continuance is almost up. So the trial will start again in a day or two. Then we’ll see how much time it will take.’

‘So two more days and then a bit?’ Luisa asked.

‘Basically. I don’t want to jinx it but I don’t expect the remainder of the trial to last more than a week. If we even last that long.’

 ‘So is there any chance I’ll be able to see you this weekend?’ Luisa asked hopefully.

‘Definitely, with all the overtime I’ve been putting in this week alone Elena _has_ to give me the weekend off. And I missed Buddy a lot so I am definitely coming back to Miami this weekend.’

‘That traitorous fish,’ Luisa said, feigning anger. ‘I knew he would betray me like this.’

‘Also there’s this girl I really like I sort of want to see,’ Rose teased.

‘First the fish and now this mystery girl?’ Luisa scoffed. ‘What have you been hiding from me, Evans?’ Luisa demanded.

‘Just that I think my girlfriend is adorable when she pretends to be mad,’ Rose smiled into the receiver.

‘Did you just call me adorable?’

‘Yes,’ Rose smiled. ‘Because you are. I really, really like you. And I miss you. And I can’t wait to see you this weekend.’

‘I really like you too. I miss you, and I will pick you up from the airport no matter what you have to say about the futility of paying double cab fare.’

‘I can’t wait to see you. But I have to go now, my food is getting cold.’

‘I’ll let you get back to that then,’ Luisa said. ‘Don’t work too late and take care of yourself.’

‘I will. Goodnight, Luisa. I miss you.’

‘Goodnight, Rose. I miss you, too. Talk soon. Just not too soon. I sort of need my sleep.’

‘I will try not to call you in the middle of the night again,’ Rose laughed. She still felt a little guilty about that, even if it was pretty funny.

‘I really like you.’

‘I really like you, too,’ Rose echoed before hanging up, walking back into her office to get started on her dinner and continue working for a little longer. She had promised Luisa she’d go home soon after all.

* * *

Rose tapped her pen on the yellow legal pad in front of her as Elena cross-examined the witness.

Court had started again, and while that was a good thing. It also showed that they were almost certainly going to lose this case.

There wasn’t a strategy they hadn’t thought of. There was no piece of circumstantial evidence left to overturn, and there were no witnesses left to cross-examine. So that just left their own character witnesses and experts to explain another possible interpretation of the facts. Strangely enough, there weren’t a whole lot of people willing to testify to Warren’s good character, so their defense would be relatively short compared to the prosecution’s long, exhaustive arguments on the case. Which could work in their advantage.

The jury consisted of a group of people Rose knew from experience would rather be anywhere else. They had selected them for that purpose. They were the 12 people least likely to have a bias against rich, misogynistic white men. Because they had crammed in as many rich, misogynistic white men into the jury as the prosecution had allowed.

So, while the prosecution drowned the jury in evidence, their defense strategy would be to just attack the most crucial points, to keep their story short and clear so the jury would be able to easily recall it while they deliberated.

When you couldn’t rely on the facts, you had to play it smart and bury the evidence, make the jury focus on the wrong thing, discredit the witnesses, the whole nine yards. It was not why Rose had become a lawyer, but it was her job and she was definitely good at it.

So once Elena yielded the floor to her she swooped in for the attack.

>>>>>> 

Rose was taking a sip of her by now cold cup of coffee when her phone rang.

‘Evans,’ Rose said, still half-focused on the notes laid out in front of her and not having read the caller ID before picking up. She had been fielding calls the whole day and reading names wasted precious time.

‘You’re still at work,’ Luisa said, sounding slightly disappointed.

‘Hey, Lu,’ Rose sighed tiredly into her phone, rubbing her eyes as she checked the clock on her wall. Blinking a couple of times to make sure she was seeing the numbers right, but they didn’t change; it was indeed 11pm already.

‘You promised me you’d go home early today.’

‘I know. I was planning to. I was just going over my notes and before I knew it, it was eleven PM.’

‘Did you eat?’

Rose frowned, trying to remember what the last thing was she ate.

‘If you have to think this hard about it, the safe answer is ‘no’.’

‘I’ll eat when I get home. There’s plenty of take-out left.’

‘When are you going home?’ Luisa asked.

‘Soon. I just needed to finish these notes.’

‘Rose,’ Luisa warned. ‘Go home now. Get some sleep. You are coursing towards another fainting spell.’

‘I am fine, Luisa. I can take care of myself. I don’t need you to point out to me what I can and cannot handle,’ Rose said, her words coming out harsher than she intended.

‘Okay, fine,’ Luisa said, copying Rose’s tone. ‘I’m just worried about you, Rose. I was only trying to help.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Rose said, immediately feeling guilty for snapping at Luisa, she didn’t deserve that. ‘I’m just tired.’

‘I know; that’s why I think you should go to bed. Get some sleep.’

‘I will. Gathering up my stuff now,’ Rose said, her back creaking uncomfortably as she stood up for the first time in hours. ‘God, I could use a hot bath right about now,’ Rose mumbled into the receiver cradled between her cheek and her shoulder as she put her files and notebooks in her bag.

‘Well, I don’t have a bath, and neither do you. But I will give you a _really_ long massage when you get home for the weekend,’ Luisa husked.

‘Mmh, that sounds like heaven,’ Rose hummed as she passed Adam, who was still hard at work.

‘Just two more nights,’ Luisa sighed.

‘Two more nights,’ Rose repeated, biting her lip as she could perfectly imagine Luisa’s hands on her.

‘I really like you,’ Luisa said softly.

‘I really like you too,’ Rose smiled. ‘I’m in the elevator now. We’ll talk tomorrow.’

‘Schedule in some more time for me, okay?’ Luisa teased. ‘I just want to talk with you without risking you falling asleep on me.’

‘That would never happen,’ Rose smiled. ‘You are way too interesting for that. And I will pencil you into my very busy schedule.’

‘You better. Text me when you get home safely, okay?’

Rose laughed. ‘I live one block away, Luisa.’

‘Just text me. It will help me sleep easier. Okay?’

‘Okay,’ Rose smiled. It was kind of nice to have someone who cared so much about her, even if she could more than take care of herself.

She pulled her coat a little tighter around herself as the cold night caused her to shiver. As she walked down the black her thoughts drifted back to the case. She knew she should really go to bed and get some sleep, but there were just a couple of things she needed to change in her statement for the following day, _then_ she would go to bed.

* * *

Rose bit her lip as she pressed the call button. She really did not want to make this call, but if she called now, Luisa would still be in her Friday afternoon staff meeting and thus be unable to answer. She knew it was cowardly, but she couldn’t do this with Luisa actually on the other end of the line.

‘Hey, it’s me,’ she started after a recording of Luisa’s voice had stated to leave her message after the beep. ‘I am so sorry but I am not flying home tonight. We had a disastrous day in court and I can’t leave Adam to fend for himself this weekend. I am so very sorry. I miss you so much. But this is the last weekend. I promise. Next week I will be back for good. I really li-.’ But before she could finish, the second beep cut her off.

Rose sighed. She had said all she had needed to say, but she knew Luisa wouldn’t be happy. _She_ wasn’t happy. She would love nothing more than to get on a plane right now and fly home to Luisa, but the more she worked on this trial, the sooner it would be over and the sooner she could be back in Miami.

But she and Luisa hadn’t seen each other in two weeks now, and on top of that they had barely talked. Rose working late into the night meant that Luisa was either asleep by the time she got home or that Rose was dead on her feet and fell asleep before she could call. All in all, Rose had been a terrible girlfriend the last couple of weeks. But she had to win this case. She had to. Because if she didn’t, it would only prove she wasn’t able to handle more complicated cases and Leon would bury her in DUI’s and B&E’s for the rest of her career. So she _had_ to win this one in order to be taken seriously. It just took a little longer than she’d expected. But she could do it. She knew she could do it.

* * *

Rose felt dread settle in her stomach as her phone started to buzz on the corner of her desk. It seemed Luisa had checked her messages.

‘Hey,’ Rose greeted, hoping the guilt she felt didn’t sound through in her voice.

‘You’re not coming home. Again?’ Luisa sounded accusatory.

‘I’m really sorry, but Adam and I have to deal with this. And I can’t do that if I am in Miami.’

‘What if I came to Tampa?’ Luisa offered.

‘I will be at the office the whole weekend.’

‘So I will have to go another weekend without seeing you?’ Luisa sighed.

‘I know. I am sorry. But it is almost over,’ Rose said, trying to sound reassuring.

‘That’s what you have been saying for the past two weeks. And in the meantime I haven’t seen you at all and we haven’t talked for more than ten minutes at the time.’

‘I know, but I can’t help it,’ Rose said defensively. ‘I’m working.’

‘You are _always_ working,’ Luisa bit out.

‘Sorry, are you _angry_ with me?’ Rose said sharply.

‘No, just disappointed. I miss you, Rose.’

‘And what makes you think I don’t miss you? I want to be there with you but I just can’t.’

‘Yes, because you have to work. So you told me,’ Luisa said tersely.

Rose felt the muscles in her jaw tense.

‘That is unfair and you know it. I can’t help it that the case ran long,’ she said, trying to keep her voice even.

‘You shouldn’t have taken it in the first place.’ Luisa bit out.’

‘I’m sorry, what?’ Rose said, feeling anger start to burn underneath her skin.

‘I said you shouldn’t have taken it in the first place. You are running away from your real problems! You’re hiding in Tampa until the universe magically solves your problem with Leon.’

‘I am not _hiding_ from Leon,’ Rose hissed through clenched teeth. ‘And I can solve my own problems just fine.’

‘Really? You’re letting everyone walk all over you. You won’t stand up to Leon just like you wouldn’t stand up to your mother. Still won’t, really.’

‘And you are so great at facing your problems. Have you talked to your father yet?’ Rose bit out.

‘That’s different and you know it,’ Luisa hissed.

‘Bullshit. If I’m hiding from my problems, so are you.’

‘I didn’t run off to another city to do it. And at least I _talk_ about my problems.’

‘There are no problems I need to talk about.’

Luisa laughed humorlessly. ‘Yeah, sure. I’m your girlfriend, Rose. I want to help you. But I can’t do that when you won’t talk to me.’

‘You’re not _helping_. You’re controlling. You don’t trust me to take care of myself. You’re always checking up on me. And it is frankly annoying. I am an adult. I was doing fine before I met you, I don’t need you to mother me. I need you to support me.’

‘Yes, such fine care you were taking of yourself,’ Luisa bit out. ‘You were in the hospital, Rose! That isn’t _normal_. I am checking up on you because I am worried. But if that is too much for you, fine. I won’t do it anymore. Just call me when you’re behaving like an adult again.’

‘I’m not the one being angry about things I can’t change,’ Rose said. Why didn’t Luisa understand?

‘Goodnight, Rose.’

‘Yeah, goodnight,’ Rose sighed before hanging up the phone.

‘That did not sound good,’ Adam said as he entered Rose’s office, carrying another stack of files.

‘It isn’t,’ Rose sighed. ‘She’s upset I’m not coming home this weekend. Like I don’t want to go home.’

‘She misses you.’

‘I miss her, too! This isn’t easy for me, Adam. But you and Luisa seem to be thinking it is.’

‘I don’t think that at all. And I am sure Luisa’s doesn’t either. You just have that “grin and bear it” attitude which makes it seem like you don’t really mind.’

‘I can’t help it I am capable of separating work and emotion,’ Rose huffed.

‘But you have to understand that to others you might seem a little callous.’

Rose shook her head. ‘Fine, maybe. That doesn’t take away that Luisa is mothering me. I can take care of myself,’ Rose huffed.

‘She’s just worried about you. She cares a lot about you and with what happened back in Miami, I can’t blame her for being a little overtly cautious. You _are_ working a lot.’

‘Don’t you start with me; you are working even more than I am. And I am fine. Let’s just get back to work,’ Rose said, picking the top file off the stack Adam had just brought it.

As she worked, she kept thinking back to the phone call, about their fight: their first fight. And as her anger faded, the guilt set in. She knew Luisa wasn’t trying to control her, and she hadn’t deserved the things Rose said to her. She was just tired and disappointed and lashing out because of it.

She sighed, she should call Luisa back and apologize. But as she looked at her watch, she saw it was already too late to call.

So instead she packed up her stuff and went home. She would call Luisa in the morning. A text right now would just seem insincere and she really wanted to talk this through.

* * *

The few hours Rose did sleep that night were constantly interrupted by dreams about her and Luisa’s fight. It wasn’t pleasant and she wanted nothing more than to make it up to Luisa and apologize.

So as soon as the clock pointed out a reasonable hour, which Rose had been watching appear on the clock minute by minute, she picked up her phone and dialed Luisa’s number.

‘Hey, I can act like an adult again. I am sorry for last night. For what I said, I shouldn’t have. I am also sorry for not calling you more. And for not coming home. I’m just really sorry, Luisa. For everything.’

‘I’m sorry too,’ Luisa said softly.

‘Apology accepted,’ Rose smiled, feeling a lot lighter all of the sudden.

‘Yours too. I didn’t sleep well at all last night,’ Luisa admitted.

‘Me neither. I don’t like it when we fight.’

‘So that was our first fight, huh?’ Luisa said, and Rose could hear her smile.

‘It was. I am just sad I don’t get to make it up to you until later.’

‘That is very sad indeed,’ Luisa said.

‘Luisa?’

‘Yes?’

‘Can I say it?’

‘Say what?’

‘What I wasn’t supposed to say until I got back?’

Luisa thought about it for a second. ‘No. I want you to say it when you’re standing on my doorstep and are not going to leave again. We’re almost there. Just this week right?’

‘Yeah, just this week,’ Rose smiled softly. ‘I really, really like you then.’

‘I really, really like you, too.’

‘I’m still sorry.’

‘So am I. But we were both just tired. No harm done.’

‘No harm done,’ Rose repeated. ‘I have some time before I have to be at work…’ she said, her sentence trailing off suggestively.

‘Well, let’s make the best of that, shall we?’ Luisa husked.

* * *

After their little makeup session that Saturday morning, Rose and Luisa both tried to keep their hopes up that Rose was coming home that weekend. But with every passing day, their conversations started getting shorter as Rose dove back into work. Until they barely talked on the phone anymore and just communicated through short texts.

Rose had tried to call Luisa, she really did. But whenever they were on the phone together they always got interrupted, so Rose decided it was easier just to text. Luisa said she understood, but Rose could hear in her voice that she was disappointed.

Which was another reason Rose didn’t like to call. She could always tell from Luisa’s tone that no matter what Luisa said on the contrary, she was still upset with the situation. Rose understood that, but she couldn’t change anything. It was just the way things were.

Sarah had called her once to ask what was going on between the two of them as Luisa didn’t seem like her upbeat self, but Rose had nothing to tell her except that they just missed each other and work was getting in their way. Sarah had been sympathetic but Rose could feel she was more on Luisa’s side than on hers. She just couldn’t figure out why.

 _She_ was the one working around the clock. _She_ was the one who when this trial ended, had to go back to another job where things would have to change. But no one seemed to understand how difficult that was.

So Rose stuck to texting.

Sunday, she texted, Monday she texted, Tuesday she texted. Until Wednesday.

They’d had another tough day at court, and Rose could tell that even if they managed to finish the trial by Friday, the jury deliberation would take a long time and there was no way she was getting on a plane anytime soon. So it was better to just inform Luisa of that now instead of leaving it until the last moment like she had last week.

She checked her watch, it was late, but not late enough for Luisa to be asleep yet. She would be back from AA by now; it was the perfect time to call.

Rose looked at the rain pelting the windows, gathering her courage as the dial tone sounded, once, twice, until Luisa picked up.

‘Please don’t tell me,’ Luisa said, catching Rose off guard.

‘Tell you what?’

‘That you’re not coming home again.’

‘I am really sorry…’

‘Rose, please. Come home. I miss you,’ Luisa said softly.

‘I can’t,’ Rose said. ‘I want to, but I can’t.’

‘Yes, you can. Stop hiding and come home.’

‘I am not _hiding_ ,’ Rose said, sounding desperate even to her own ears. ‘I’m working.’

‘You’re hiding in your work. You won’t even call me anymore!’

‘I am not hiding from anything!’

‘Then why won’t you talk to me?’

‘Because- Because whenever I call you, you sound upset. And I don’t need that right now.’

‘I _am_ upset! I miss you. I haven’t seen you in nearly three weeks! I am worried about you!’

‘And I told you not to be!’

‘That’s what you said before you ended up in the hospital a month ago! That you were fine, that you were handling it. But you weren’t!’

‘I _am_ handling it,’ Rose bit out.

‘No, you’re not. You’re scared to come back and I can tell. This was supposed to be for four weeks only and you said it might not even last that long. It’s been five and now you’re telling me it is going to be six. And I can’t help but think that you are secretly happy about that. Happy that you don’t have to come back here and face Leon, to work on _that_ problem. You would rather just bury yourself in work over there, then come home and try to fix it. To stand up for yourself.’

‘That’s not true,’ Rose ground out, the muscles in her jaw pulling tight as her frustration got the better of her.

‘It is. And I understand that it is hard. I just wished you would talk to me about it instead of hiding in your work.’

‘I can’t talk to you about it because you accuse me of things that aren’t true.’

‘I am not accusing you of anything!’

‘Really? You’re not accusing me that I care more about my job than I care about you?’

‘You said that, not me,’ Luisa said softly. ‘But I guess it is true, isn’t it? You do care more about your job.’

‘Luisa…’

‘You do! You won’t call me because it interferes with your job. You won’t let me come to Tampa because it interferes with your job. You won’t come home because it interferes with your job. And worst of all; you won’t talk to me because it makes you feel _guilty_ about caring more about your job. And guess what? That interferes with your job.’

‘Luisa…’ Rose tried again, her anger making way for desperation. She felt like everything was falling apart.  

‘Don’t, Rose. I’m tired. Just, I miss you, and I wish you’d come home. But I don’t know how much longer I can do this with you. I’m just so tired of all of this. I’m sorry,’ Luisa said, sounding defeated.

‘Luisa, please,’ Rose said, hearing her voice crack slightly.

‘I’m sorry, Rose. But this is not a relationship. I’m, I’m sorry,’ Luisa said, and Rose could tell she was crying.

‘Luisa!’ Rose yelled into her phone but Luisa had already hung up. She tried calling back but it went directly to voicemail. She tried sending a text but Luisa was not receiving them.

‘Damnit,’ Rose cursed, pounding her desk with her fist as tears sprung in her eyes. ‘Damnit, Luisa.’

She closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath, holding it as she made a choice.

She picked her phone back up and dialed a different number.

‘Adam, hey,’ she greeted. ‘Where are you?’

* * *

Rose brushed a wet strand of hair away from her face as she waited for the door to open. The short walk to the building had soaked her clothes. The storm outside matching the storm in her mind.

She knocked again, harder this time, until she heard shuffling coming from inside the apartment.

‘Rose? How-’

But Rose didn’t give her time to finish that sentence.

‘I love you,’ she said, taking a step forward, taking Luisa’s hands in hers.

‘Don’t say that,’ Luisa said, tears starting to form in her eyes, trying to pull her hands free, but Rose wouldn’t let her go, not ever again.

‘I love you,’ Rose said firmly, watching as the meaning of those words settled in, Luisa’s eyes going wide in the process.

‘But what about-’

‘I don’t care. I love you,’ Rose repeated, pulling Luisa closer to her, pressing their lips together in a long overdue kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we're nearly there! Can't believe how long this fic has gotten and how many of you are still reading it.
> 
> I hope you liked this chapter and I look forward to the final one. See you Sunday!
> 
> Comments are still very welcome! (They always are, really)


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here we are, 20 chapters later, at the end of this story that started as a fake dating AU and like 4 chapters in changed into something different.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it none the less, and that you will enjoy this final chapter too!

Rose wasn't certain whose tears she tasted as their desperate kiss deepened. She knew she was crying, and she could feel Luisa shake against her. It didn’t matter anyway. She was home and she was never going to make the mistake of leaving Luisa again.

'I'm sorry,' Rose said as she pulled away from the kiss, wrapping her arms around Luisa's shoulders, burying her face in the crook of Luisa's neck. 'I'm so sorry. I love you.'

Luisa took a shaky breath, wrapping her arms around Rose’s waist. 'I love you too.'

Rose hadn't known how much she needed to hear Luisa to say that until she had said it. It felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

'I missed you so much,' Rose said, pulling Luisa inside with her so they could close the door. They needed to talk and she would rather not wake the whole building up while doing so.

'I missed you, too,' Luisa said, wiping at her tears. 'Tell me you're not going back there.'

'I'm not,' Rose said firmly, looking into Luisa’s eyes, needing her to know she meant it. ‘You were right; I was prioritizing my job over you. And for that I am sorry. I am also sorry for not calling, for not visiting, for being an all-around awful girlfriend. I am so sorry,’ Rose said, pulling Luisa onto the couch with her.

‘It hurt, Rose,’ Luisa sniffed, trying very hard to keep her voice level. ‘It felt like you were getting over me. Like you didn’t want me in your life anymore. And I love you so much, I couldn’t watch you fall out of love with me.’

‘That would never happen,’ Rose reassured her, squeezing Luisa’s hand which she hadn’t let go off since entering the apartment. ‘You make me happy. Not my job. My job usually just makes me miserable,’ she said, smiling sadly.

‘You make me happy, too,’ Luisa said softly, looking down at their intertwined hands. ‘But I need to know you are not going to disappear again. To Tampa. Into your work. I understand your work is important to you, but just, I don’t know if I can do this if you won’t let me help. If you won’t open up to me.’

Rose nodded. ‘I-,’ she started, taking a deep breath. ‘I am not very good at opening up to people. I would rather just deal with my problems myself. And I am sorry for not including you more. It is just, this is the first time in a long time someone has been firmly on my side, and it is new and a little confusing for me. And that is not an excuse, I just haven’t really had the chance to be openly emotional with someone. But I really want to make this work between us. I love you. So no more secrets. From now on I will tell you when I am struggling.’

Luisa had listened attentively. ‘I’m sorry, too. For going off at you while you were already stressed. That wasn’t helpful at all.’

‘You get to act on your emotions, too,’ Rose smiled warmly, brushing an errant tear from Luisa’s cheek. ‘And it was my fault anyway. I shouldn’t have closed off when things started getting to me.’

‘I’m sorry for breaking up with you,’ Luisa said. ‘I should have given you a chance to explain.’

‘We aren’t still broken up, are we?’ Rose asked, her heartbeat speeding as her nerves set back in.

‘No, no we’re not,’ Luisa smiled gently, cupping Rose’s cheek. ‘I don’t ever want to break up with you again.’

‘Neither do I,’ Rose said, slowly leaning in and catching Luisa’s lips in another kiss, softer and less desperate this time.

As they kissed, Rose realized how stupid she had been for denying herself this. There was nothing better than kissing Luisa, than the way they moved together, the way Luisa always knew when to applied more pressure, more tongue. It just came so naturally and it was absolute perfection.

Rose was panting a little as she pulled back. During the kiss Luisa had laid down on the couch, so Rose was now hovering over her, her still wet hair tickling Luisa’s cheeks.

Luisa smiled and brushed Rose’s hair over one shoulder before bringing her back in for another kiss.

This time Rose got completely lost in the kiss. In Luisa’s familiar smell of flowery shampoo and laundry detergent, in her taste, in her soft skin and plush lips.

Rose rested her forehead against Luisa’s as she caught her breath, brushing their noses together. ‘Will you let me make it up to you?’ she whispered against Luisa’s lips.

‘Well, you do still owe me make-up sex from that first fight we had. And then for this one. So you definitely have some making up to do,’ Luisa grinned, her eyes shining. And for the first time that night, it was not with tears.

‘Great,’ Rose smirked, quickly standing up and plucking Luisa off the couch, carrying her towards the bedroom in her arms.

Luisa yelped and clung to Rose’s neck, burying her face against Rose’s shoulder. ‘Rose!’ she yelled, tightening her grip.

‘I won’t drop you,’ Rose promised, nuzzling Luisa’s hair before carefully laying her down on the bed, covering the brunette’s body with her own. ‘I would never drop you.’

‘I know. I was just surprised,’ Luisa smiled, snaking her hand up Rose’s body until it was at the back of her neck, pulling her back in for another kiss.

Rose moved her hands up underneath Luisa’s shirt, which even in the semi-darkness of the room she recognized as one of her own.

Luisa wasn’t sitting idly by and was expertly undoing the buttons of Rose’s damp blouse, the rain making it cold and clammy, sticking the fabric to her skin. She couldn’t wait to get rid of it.

As the rain pounded against the windows, Rose finished undressing Luisa and started kissing a trail down her body, nipping and sucking on Luisa’s skin, basking in Luisa’s little whines and breathless whimpers. She had missed this. She had missed Luisa, and she was never going to let that happen again.

She darted out her tongue to taste Luisa, drawing whirls and spirals on the soft, smooth skin. As she focused her attention on Luisa’s breasts, she slipped her leg between Luisa’s thighs.

Luisa began grinding against Rose’s thigh as Rose sucked a rock-hard nipple into her mouth, circling the tight bud with her tongue a couple of times before releasing it from her mouth with a wet pop. She then shifted her attention to Luisa’s other breast, lavishing it with the same attention.

Rose could feel Luisa’s wetness start to coat her thigh as Luisa’s rocking against her became more rhythmic, searching for more pressure.

Desperate to feel more of Luisa against her, Rose slipped one hand down between their warm, writhing bodies. Luisa’s wetness coating her fingers as she rubbed her clit in ever tightening circles.

‘God, Rose,’ Luisa moaned, throwing her head back against the pillows. Exposing her throat, offering Rose a blank canvas she couldn’t resist marking.

She nipped at Luisa’s pulse point, savoring the breathless moan falling from Luisa’s lips. One hand still moving rhythmically between Luisa’s legs, the other massaging the soft flesh of Luisa’s perfect breasts.

Rose continued until Luisa was reduced to soft whimpers and breathless moans, grinding down hard on Rose’s hand, balancing right on the edge of an orgasm. To delay the inevitable a little longer, she pulled her hand away, offering her fingers to Luisa, who greedily sucked them clean.

She raised herself up on her elbows, kissing Luisa deeply. Tasting the arousal on Luisa’s tongue. Now she’d had a taste, she quickly made her way down Luisa’s body for more, Luisa spreading her legs to accommodate her.

Rose licked up the entire length of Luisa’s sex, arousal coating her tongue. Rose might like teasing Luisa a little but she wasn’t cruel, so after another couple of broad licks, she sucked Luisa’s clit into her mouth, plunging two fingers knuckle deep into Luisa.

‘Fuck,’ Luisa moaned loudly, nearly arching off the bed as Rose really started fucking her. Her orgasm quickly rebuilding until she fell screaming over the edge.

Rose continued thrusting into Luisa until a less powerful, second orgasm washed over her.

Wiping her mouth on the back of her hand, she made her way up Luisa’s body, holding her in her arms as Luisa slowly recovered.

‘Hey,’ Rose smiled as Luisa’s eyelashes started fluttering. ‘Did I at least make a start at making it up to you?’

‘More than. God, I almost forgot how good you were at that. I can’t feel my legs,’ Luisa murmured, turning her head so she could kiss Rose.

‘I love you,’ Rose said. Now she could finally say it, she couldn’t stop. It felt good to say it. To really say what she felt.

‘I love you, too,’ Luisa smiled. ‘Now turn around for me. I want your pretty ass in the air while I fuck you.’

Rose felt more arousal settle between her legs at Luisa’s sultry tone alone, so when she complied with Luisa’s command and the brunette started fucking her with her tongue she couldn’t do much more than moan into her pillow.

* * *

‘Best make-up sex ever,’ Luisa murmured, her voice nothing more than a whisper as she made herself comfortable in Rose’s loose embrace. Pulling the covers up around them.

‘I would rather have slightly less great sex without the fighting,’ Rose said, kissing the top of Luisa’s head. ‘I don’t like knowing you’re upset with me.’

‘Me neither. But when we do fight, at least promise we will always make up.’

‘I promise,’ Rose smiled, turning her head so she could kiss Luisa.

‘I almost drank again tonight,’ Luisa admitted softly.

‘What?’ Rose said, immediately alarmed. Sitting up so she could look at Luisa.

‘I didn’t. But I wanted to. More than I wanted to when my dad called me useless.’

‘Oh god,’ Rose said, guilt squeezing her throat, making it hard for her to breathe. ‘I am so sorry.’

‘I didn’t tell you to make you feel guilty,’ Luisa said, offering Rose a warm smile she could just make out in the dark bedroom. ‘I told you because I want to be honest with you. Breaking up with you, even for a few hours, was really hard for me.’

‘I am so sorry, Luisa,’ Rose said, feeling like the worst person on the planet. Absolutely the last thing she had wanted to do was to hurt Luisa in such a way that Luisa felt drawn to alcohol again. She didn’t want to be the person that made Luisa turn to alcohol.

‘It’s okay,’ Luisa said, brushing her fingers over Rose’s cheek, feeling the wetness of tears underneath her fingertips. ‘I am okay now. You’re here. It is just that you mean so much to me. And the thought that I had lost you almost broke me. But you’re here now.’

‘And I am not going anywhere, ever again,’ Rose said, tightening her grip on Luisa, kissing her softly. It scared her how different things could have turned out this night. How close they had come to ending this thing between them. How one decision had almost ruined them. And Rose knew it was on her. She had made the selfish decision to go to Tampa to save face at her job here.

Luisa smiled at her, settling back against the pillows, her body molding itself around Rose’s. Resting her head on Rose’s shoulder.

‘What are you going to do now?’ she asked softly, playing with the ends of Rose’s hair.

Rose sighed, she’d had some time to think about that during the car ride over, but honestly, her thoughts had been more preoccupied with making it up with Luisa than she had been with what would happen afterwards, now that she was back in Miami.

‘I don’t know,’ she answered truthfully. ‘I guess I’ll just go back to work on Monday.’

‘And then?’ Luisa asked. ‘Are you going to let the same thing happen all over again?’

‘I-,’ Rose sighed, shifting a little underneath Luisa. ‘I don’t know what to do. I still don’t.’

‘Talk to your boss. Tell him you’re being harassed. That you will not allow yourself to be treated this way.’

Rose bit her lip. ‘I am not sure if that will change anything.’

‘Not doing anything is definitely not going to change thigns. Asking for help does not make you weak, you know?’ Luisa said, pressing soft kisses to Rose’s shoulder. ‘Or so you told me. Listen to your own advice. Talk with your boss. Something has to change, Rose. What other options do you have?’

‘I could quit my job,’ Rose said, she had been thinking about it for a while now. It was the easiest solution.

‘So you’re just gonna quit?’ Luisa fired. ‘That is not like you. At all. It won’t solve anything. You’ll just run away from your problems. No. I won’t let you. You love your job there. You just need to solve the Leon problem. _Really_ solve it. Not pretend like it is nothing.’

Rose smiled, one of the first things that had attracted her to Luisa was her passion, and that definitely hadn’t changed.

‘You’re right.’

‘And another thing… Wait, what?’ Luisa said, confused Rose had given in so easily.

‘I said you are right,’ Rose said, folding her arms behind her head, staring up at the ceiling. ‘I should just talk to Hanson. It can’t hurt to try. And I am not a quitter.’

‘No, you are not,’ Luisa smiled proudly, raising herself up on her elbows, looming over Rose. ‘But I was sort of getting in the zone with my argument, can I continue listing all the other reasons?’

‘You’re weird,’ Rose laughed, hugging Luisa to her chest.

‘I am so not weird,’ Luisa grinned, not really offended by Rose’s words. ‘You’re the weird one. You just showed up in the middle of the night declaring you undying love for me.’

Rose laughed, pulling Luisa on top of her. ‘I never said undying,’ she said, nuzzling the side of Luisa’s neck.

‘Are you trying to tell me you are not hopelessly devoted to me?’

‘No, I am,’ Rose smiled, brushing her lips against Luisa’s. ‘I wouldn’t drive four hours across the state for anyone else.’

‘Wait,’ Luisa said, raising herself up on her elbows. ‘You _drove_ here? In that storm?’

Rose nodded. ‘I had to see you.’

‘You are an idiot!’ Luisa yelled, smacking Rose in the arm. ‘That was seriously dangerous! Did you even think?!’

Rose sat up, taking Luisa’s hand in her own, her thumb brushing softly over Luisa’s knuckles. She could tell from body language alone that Luisa was actually upset.

‘I wasn’t doing a whole lot of thinking at that point. Just that you meant so much more to me than my job. And that I had to tell you that.’

‘You could have gotten into an accident!’ Luisa huffed.

‘But I didn’t. I am fine. I drove carefully. Besides, there was no one else on the road.’

‘No, because no one is that stupid,’ Luisa said flatly.

‘I am sorry. But I would choose to drive down here in the rain every time.’

‘That’s stupid,’ Luisa said, and Rose could hear her resolve falter.

‘Love makes you stupid,’ Rose said, pulling Luisa back against her.

‘That’s such a cliché,’ Luisa murmured, resting her head on Rose’s shoulder, hiding her smile.

‘It is also true,’ Rose said, kissing the top of Luisa’s head, letting her eyes fall closed. She’d had a very long day on very little sleep. And so had Luisa.

They could talk about the other things that needed talking about in the morning. Right now, she just wanted to sleep with her girlfriend in her arms for the first time in over two weeks.

* * *

Rose woke up alone in bed the next morning. She blinked against the sunlight streaming in from underneath the curtains. She might be alone now, but she had a pretty good idea of where Luisa was.

She swung her legs over the edge of the bed, rubbing her eyes. She couldn’t have gotten more than a couple of hours of sleep, but if Luisa was awake, then so was she.

Rose walked into the bathroom where she had heard the shower running. Sliding the glass panel to the side, she stepped into the warm spray with Luisa. Wrapping her arms around her girlfriend’s waist and resting her head on her shoulder.

‘Why are you awake?’ she muttered against Luisa’s wet skin.

‘It’s a workday,’ Luisa smiled, turning around in Rose’s embrace. ‘I have many pregnant women to see today.’

Rose groaned. She had forgotten it was Thursday. Emotional reunions should always be scheduled on Friday’s so you had the whole weekend to make-up and celebrate. But usually scheduling these things was difficult, so they just had to cope with this being a regular Thursday morning.

‘You could just head back to bed, you know?’ Luisa smiled, reaching around Rose for the bottle of shampoo. ‘You have no work today.’

‘I do, technically,’ Rose said, accepting the bottle from Luisa, motioning for her to turn around. ‘It is just four hours away from here and there is no way I am going to be on time.’

‘I thought you quit your job with Elena?’ Luisa asked, tilting her head back to keep the shampoo out of her eyes as Rose lathered her hair with it.

‘I have. I just haven’t told her yet. But I told Adam last night when I borrowed his car. He is prepared to take over my chair in the trial. So, I didn’t just up and leave.’

‘Really, did you bring any of your things?’ Luisa asked smugly.

‘I-,’ Rose said. She hadn’t. She had just called Adam, asked to borrow his car and made her way down to Miami. ‘I will have Derek bring them by or something,’ she sighed, continuing to wash Luisa’s hair for her, rinsing the suds out.

‘I’m happy you’re here,’ Luisa smiled.

‘Me too,’ Rose said, leaning in for a kiss. ‘Besides, it seems you have hauled my entire collection of shirts up here, so I will not be lacking things to wear.’

‘I am not sorry for that,’ Luisa smiled. ‘You have the best shirts. They smell like you.’

Rose smiled, pecking Luisa on the cheek as they finished the rest of their shower routines. While Luisa got dressed for work, Rose just threw on one of her oversized shirts and busied herself with making breakfast.

It was really very domestic and it was almost like she had never left for Tampa. It seemed things hadn’t changed between them and Rose was grateful for that. She would never regret the decision she made last night. The ones she had made before that she would regret plenty. But not picking Luisa, she could never regret that. She felt so much happier and more relaxed, even on two hours of sleep. Now she just had to make sure it would stay that way. And that meant talking to her boss about what had been going on with Leon.

‘That smells good,’ Luisa smiled as she walked into the kitchen, her hair falling in perfect, soft waves around her shoulders, her makeup flawlessly applied, her dress swishing around her legs.

‘You smell good,’ Rose grinned, pecking Luisa on the cheek as she placed a plate of eggs and toast in front of her.

‘Mmmh, thank you,’ Luisa smiled, taking a sip of her coffee. ‘So, while I am at work today, what are you going to do?’ she asked, kicking Rose playfully under the table.

‘Well, I was going to take Buddy here to the park,’ Rose grinned, motioning at the fish swimming lazy rounds in its bowl at the end of the counter.

‘Good start of the day,’ Luisa smiled, getting started on her breakfast. ‘And after?’

‘I’ll go talk to Hanson.’

Luisa raised an eyebrow. ‘Really?’

Rose nodded. ‘Better bite the bullet right away. I have the day off now. And if I want to start again Monday I should go in as soon as possible. My leave of absence has lasted long enough.’

‘I’m proud of you,’ Luisa said, leaning across the table top to brush her lips against Rose’s.

‘Well, let’s see if it is going to change anything,’ Rose sighed. She still wasn’t convinced it would actually make a difference, but she was definitely going to try. Running away from her problems had nearly split her and Luisa up. And she was not going to allow that to happen ever again.

‘Regardless,’ Luisa smiled, downing the rest of her coffee. ‘I am proud of you. But I’ve gotta dash. Love you,’ she said planting a kiss on Rose’s lips.

‘Love you, too,’ Rose said, walking Luisa to the door.

‘I’ll see you tonight,’ Luisa smiled as she started down the stairs.

‘See you tonight,’ Rose said, closing the door with a smile on her face. Yeah, whatever happened today, she was not going to let anything come between her and Luisa again.

‘What do you say, Buddy?’ Rose asked the non-responsive goldfish. ‘Should I take you back to my place or leave you here at Luisa’s? Smart choice,’ Rose answered for him. ‘She will probably feed you better.’

Rose straightened up Luisa’s kitchen and then walked down two flights of stairs to her own apartment; she should really change into something more work appropriate if she was going to face her boss.

* * *

She bit her lip as she walked out of the elevator. She had never been this nervous in her life.

‘Rose?’ the confused utterance of her name shaking her out of her thoughts.

‘Hi Sarah,’ Rose smiled, she had missed her friend.

Sarah dropped what she was holding and sprinted across the length of the office to envelop Rose in a crushing hug.

‘What are you doing here? The trial isn’t over yet,’ Sarah said, looking Rose up and down.

‘I, uhm, quit,’ Rose said, looking down at the ground.

‘What, why? Everyone said you might be able to swing it.’

Rose looked at her watch, thanks to her nerves she was more than half an hour early, so she had some time to explain the whole story to Sarah.

‘I am not back here because of the trial,’ Rose said, dropping her voice to a whisper as she started walking towards Sarah’s office, Sarah following her curiously. ‘I’m back because of Luisa.’

‘What happened? Is she okay?’ Sarah asked, worry etching her face.

‘Yes, she is fine. I am not sure if Luisa told you. But I disappeared into my work again, and Luisa called me on it and I got angry. So we were fighting over the phone last night. And she sort of broke up with me.

‘What?!’ Sarah yelled, her jaw going slack. ‘You broke up?’

‘For a couple of hours. Immediately I realized she meant so much more to me than my job. So I drove back over here and we made up.’

‘So you two are fine now, right?’ Sarah said, her hand still resting over her heart.

‘Better than ever,’ Rose smiled.

‘Thank god,’ Sarah said, relaxing a little. ‘You two give me hope for love.’

‘You have a boyfriend that you live with,’ Rose laughed.

‘But the two of you are just so cute,’ Sarah smiled. ‘I’m also glad you’re back. I missed you. And the unlimited coffee you bring with you.’

‘I missed you too.’ Rose smiled, she really had.

‘So, what are you doing back at the office?’ Sarah asked.

‘I am finally being an adult and talking to Hanson about Leon.’

‘Good. Because if you weren’t, I was going to. He can’t bully everyone to do his bidding. If for some reason Hanson doesn’t believe you, I will back you up. That asshole needs to pay.’

‘Thank you, Sarah,’ Rose smiled. ‘So, let me buy you a cup of coffee so you can distract me before my appointment with Hanson.’

‘I love you, never go away again,’ Sarah grinned, wrapping Rose in another hug.

‘Luisa said she loved me,’ Rose said, still not quite believing it was real. A soft smile crossing her face as she thought about it for the 200th time that day.

‘You two are precious,’ Sarah said, patting her shoulder. ‘Now let’s go get our daily dose of caffeine and then you can be brave and create a friendly work environment for everyone here.’

‘Thanks for the extra pressure,’ Rose sighed. ‘And I am certain you have surpassed your daily dose of caffeine hours ago.’

Sarah just laughed. ‘I will gladly be your star witness if Hanson so requires. But first coffee.’

* * *

Rose got up from her position at the bottom step as she heard a key in the lock, brushing the dust of her pants as she waited for Luisa to notice her. When she did, she saw Luisa’s eyes light up at the familiarity of it all.

‘Have you been waiting here long?’ Luisa asked as she pushed up on her toes to peck Rose on the lips.

‘Not at all. You have a very predictable schedule,’ Rose smiled, accepting Luisa’s keys from her, getting their mail before walking up the stairs together.

‘So, did you speak with your boss today?’

‘I did,’ Rose said.

‘And?’ Luisa asked, squeezing Rose’s hand, looking at her expectantly.

It was then that Rose could no longer hold back her smile.

‘That looks like a good sign,’ Luisa said, visibly relaxing.

‘Better than good, it is great,’ Rose said, starting to recount her conversation with Hanson that afternoon.

She had started off with thanking Hanson for giving her some time off to recover and work on another case. Then moving onto the much more nerve-wracking subject of why she had needed a break from working here. Starting from the beginning, with Leon’s unwanted advances, then the homophobia, the continued harassment and ending with the overload of cases he had tried to bury her under.

Hanson listened quietly, which worried Rose a little. She was normally pretty good at reading people. But Hanson had a poker face like no other she had ever seen before.

So when she had gotten to the end of her speech, she had no idea what Hanson was thinking. She had _definitely_ not expected him to apologize and to immediately place Leon on suspension while they got to the bottom of this. Because according to Hanson, these were very serious allegations and he was shocked they had happened at his firm. He also told her that he had not given Leon permission to delegate that number of cases to her, and that that loophole in the company guidelines would soon be closed so a superior could never use it against another employee again.

Nothing was sure yet, but Hanson had implied that if the allegations proved true, which Rose knew they were, that Leon would be fired. So Rose had still felt very triumphant when she exited the office. Victory was within reach.

‘I’m very proud of you,’ Luisa smiled as Rose finished recounting her meeting with Hanson.

‘I feel a little stupid to not talking to him before,’ Rose sighed, leaning back against Luisa as they sat on the couch in the top floor apartment. ‘All of this could have been avoided.’

‘Well, better late than never. Besides, nothing has irreparably been damaged,’ she said kissing the shell of Rose’s ear softly.

‘True,’ Rose smiled happily. ‘I just hope things can go back to normal now.’

‘We’re not very good at normal,’ Luisa smiled. ‘I mean, we fake dated before we really dated. That’s not a normal progression of a relationship.

‘True,’ Rose laughed. ‘So let’s go back to our normal.’

‘Let’s,’ Luisa said, reaching for the remote and zapping through the channels. They had ordered food in because neither of them felt like cooking or going out.

‘Stop,’ Rose said, covering Luisa’s hand with her own as she spotted a familiar face on the TV screen.

 _‘another surprising twist in the trial of Warren Ashcroft,’_ the newscaster said, standing on the stairs leading to the courthouse. _‘The judge has just indicted Ashcroft on witness tampering. The ramifications for the ongoing case against him are severe. Here to respond is Ashcroft’s lawyer, Elena Di Nola…’_

Luisa muted the TV after that, turning to Rose. ‘Does that mean what I think it means?’

Rose felt a surprising smile lift her lips. ‘It means he killed that witness, and that the trial against him just imploded. There is no way Elena’s going to win this.’

Luisa smiled with her. ‘I’m glad you got out of that mess.’

‘Me too,’ Rose laughed as she watched her obviously distressed mother brush past the wall of reporters. ‘Me too.’

* * *

_Two years later_

Rose whistled a familiar tune as she opened her mailbox, sorting through the letters to see if there was anything interesting hidden between the bills and brochures. Smiling, she put the white envelope at the top of the stack.

‘I’m home!’ she yelled as she threw her keys in the bowl by the front door.

‘Kitchen!’ Luisa yelled back, making Rose smile.

‘You know,’ Rose started as she placed the stack of envelopes on the kitchen counter, walking over to Luisa to kiss her hello. ‘I am starting to think that me taking you name was a mistake.’

‘Really? How come?’ Luisa smiled, wrapping her arms around Rose’s neck.

‘I have no idea who this letter is for,’ Rose laughed, holding up a white envelope. ‘It just Mrs. Alver. No initials.’

Luisa laughed. ‘Only one way to find out,’ she said, stealing the envelope from Rose’s hands, tearing open the flap.

‘What does it say?’ Rose asked, watching as Luisa’s eyes filled with tears.

‘It says,’ Luisa hiccupped, wiping at her cheeks. ‘It says that we have been approved as adoption parents.’

Rose beamed, hugging Luisa closer to her.

‘You hear that?’ Rose said, dropping down to her knees in front of Luisa, her hands coming up to rest on Luisa’s very pregnant stomach. ‘We’re getting you a sibling.’

Luisa smiled through her tears. ‘All these hormones are wreaking havoc on my emotions,’ she sniffled.

‘It’s okay,’ Rose smiled, wiping the tears from her wife’s cheek. ‘I still really like you.’ After all these years, it had become a kind of inside joke between the two of them.

Luisa laughed, smacking Rose playfully in the arm. ‘Why aren’t you crying?’ she said, wiping at her tears.

‘I may have known beforehand that we had been approved,’ Rose smiled, stepping out of Luisa’s reach to avoid being punched in the arm again. Luisa was surprisingly strong.

‘And you didn’t think to call me?’ Luisa said, advancing menacingly on Rose.

‘I thought it would be more fun this way. We’re going to be mothers!’ Rose said, knowing that would distract Luisa.

‘We’re going to be mothers twice over,’ Luisa smiled.

‘Yes, we are,’ Rose said, wrapping an arm around Luisa’s shoulders, pulling her closer to her. ‘We should start thinking of names.’

‘I have a couple good ones,’ Luisa smiled, pushing up on her toes.

‘Really?’ Rose breathed against Luisa’s lips. ‘Can I hear them?’

‘Maybe later. First, let’s celebrate,’ she said before closing the distance between them.

And Rose couldn’t agree more, this was one of the many occasions in their shared lives that deserved celebrating. And she knew there would be many more to come.

_The end_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I hope that this is a satisfying ending and that I tied up all the loose ends and that everyone got the ending they deserved. 
> 
> I enjoyed writing this fic a lot and I hope you liked reading it too. So for the last time, I ask you to please comment as they really make me very happy!
> 
> Thank you for reading! I wouldn't have made it this far without you and your endless enthusiasm for this fic! Thank you all so much!


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